CIHM 
Microfiche 
Series 
(Monographs) 


iCMH 

Collection  de 
microfiches 
(monographles) 


El 


Canadian  Instltun  for  Hhtorleal  MlCfonproductiont  /  Inatitut  Canadian  da  mieroraprodiictiona  Matoriquaa 


1995 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  technique  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
may  be  bibliographically  unique,  which  may  alter  any  of 
the  images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  .Tiay 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checlwd  below. 


0 


Coloured  covMS  / 
CouveituiB  de  couleur 


I     I     Covers  damaged/ 

' — '     Couverture  endommagie 

I     I     Covers  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
' — '      Couverture  restaur^  et/ou  pellicuiee 

|~1     Cover  title  missing /LetBrede  couverture  manque 

I     I      Coloured  maps  /  Cartes  gtegraphiques  en  couleur 

[^     Cokxitsd  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 

Encie  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

I     I      Cokxired  plates  and/or  illustratk)ns  / 
' — '     Planches  et/ou  illustratk>ns  en  couleur 

I     I      Bound  with  other  material  / 

Reli*  avec  d'autres  documents 

I     I     Only  edition  available/ 
I — I      SauleMWondisponible 

I  I  Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin  /  La  reliure  serrAe  peut 
causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la  distorskjn  le  long  de 
la  marge  interieure. 

I  I  Blank  leaves  added  during  restoiBtkxB  may  appear 
' — '  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have 
been  omitted  from  fMng  /  II  se  peut  que  ceitaines 
pages  blanches  ajoutees  lors  dune  restauration 
apparaiseent  dans  le  texte.  mais,  kxsque  cela  «tait 
posstM,  oes  pages  n'ont  pas  ate  lilmees. 


L'Instltut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  examplaire  qu'il  lui  a 
6te  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  ddtaiis  de  cet  exem- 
plaire  qui  sont  peut-6tre  uniques  du  point  de  vue  bibli- 
ographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier  une  image  reproduite, 
ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modifications  dans  la  m6th- 
ode  normale  de  f  ilmage  sont  indiqu6s  ci-dessous. 

I     I     Cokxjred  pages/ Pages  de  couleur 

I     I     Pages  damaged/ Pages  endommagees 

I     I     Pages  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
— '     Pages  restaurtes  et/ou  petUcMes 

r^     Pages  discokxjred,  stained  or  foxed  / 
' — '     Pages  dteotortes,  tacheties  ou  pk)utes 

I     I     Pages  detached/ Pages  ditachees 

r^      Showthrough  /  Transparence 

r^     Quality  of  print  varies  / 

' — '     QuaUte  inigale  de  I'impression 

I     I     Includes  supptementary  material  / 

Comprend  du  materiel  suppKmentaire 

I  I  Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
— '  slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image  /  Les  pages 
totalement  ou  partiellement  obscurcies  par  un 
feulllet  d'errata,  une  pelure,  etc.,  ont  H6  filmtes 
i  nouveau  de  fa9on  k  obtenir  la  mellleure 
in,jge  possible. 

I  I  Opposing  pages  with  varying  colouration  or 
' — '  discolourations  are  filmed  twtee  to  ensure  the 
best  possible  image  /  Les  pages  s'opposant 
ayant  des  coloratons  variables  ou  des  dteol- 
orations  sont  filmees  deux  fois  afin  d'obtsnir  la 
meilleur  image  possible. 


D 


Addlnnal  cammems  / 
Commentaires  suppMmentaires: 


Thii  item  it  filmed  at  the  raduction  ratio  cheekad  befcm/ 

C*  dooiKMnt  Mt  fihn*  au  taux  da  rMiiction  mdkmt  ci-^atioin. 

10X  14X  18X 


22X 


2«X 


»X 


12X 


XX 


3JX 


Tha  copy  fllmad  har*  haa  baan  raproducad  thanka 
to  Iha  ganaroaity  of: 

Ubnry 

Trwit  Univtnity,  Ptttrterough 


L'axamplaira  fllmi  fut  raproduit  grtea  A  la 
gtniroaitt  do: 

Ubnry 

Tram  Unlmnity,  Pniiborough 


Tha  Imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  baat  quality 
poaalblo  eonaldaring  tha  condition  and  logiblllty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  In  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apacif  Icattona. 


Laa  Imagaa  auivanta*  ont  Mi  raprodultaa  avac  la 
plua  grand  soin.  ccmpte  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattata  da  l'axamplaira  filmA,  at  an 
conformM  avac  laa  conditiona  du  contrat  da 
fllmaga. 


Original  coplaa  in  printad  papar  covara  ara  filmad 
baglnning  with  tha  front  eovar  and  anding  on 
tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad  or  llluatratad  Impraa- 
aion,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othor  original  coplaa  ara  filmad  baglnning  on  tha 
firat  paga  with  a  printod  or  llluatratad  Impraa- 
alon.  and  anding  on  tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad 
or  llluatratad  impraaakin. 


Laa  axamplairaa  originaux  dont  la  couvartura  an 
papiar  aat  ImprimAa  aont  fllmto  on  commandant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarmlnant  lolt  par  la 
darnltra  paga  qui  comporta  una  ampralnta 
d'lmpraaalon  ou  d'llluatratlon,  salt  par  la  lacond 
plat,  aalon  la  caa.  Toua  laa  autraa  axamplairaa 
originaux  aont  fllmta  an  commandant  par  la 
pramMra  paga  qui  comporta  una  ampralnta 
d'lmpraaalon  ou  d'llluatratlon  at  an  tarmlnant  par 
la  darnMra  paga  qui  comporta  una  tallo 
ampralnta. 


Tha  laat  raeordad  frama  on  aach  microfieha 
ahall  contain  tha  aymbol  ^v-  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED "I,  or  tha  aymbol  ▼  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appliaa. 


Un  daa  aymbolaa  auivanta  apparaltra  aur  la 
darniira  Imaga  da  chaqua  microfiche,  aalon  la 
caa:  la  aymbola  -»  algnlfia  "A  SUIVRE  ".  la 
aymbola  ▼  algnlfia  "FIN". 


Mapa.  plataa,  charta.  ate,  may  ba  filmad  at 
diffarant  raduction  ratloa.  Thoaa  too  larga  to  ba 
antlraly  includad  in  ono  axpoaura  ara  filmad 
baglnning  In  tha  uppar  laft  hand  cornar,  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  aa  many  framaa  aa 
raqulrad.  Tha  following  diagrama  llluatrata  tha 
mathod: 


Laa  carvaa,  planchaa,  tablaaux.  ate.  pauvant  ttra 
filmta  i  daa  taux  da  reduction  diffiranta. 
Loraqua  la  documant  aat  trop  grand  pour  ttra 
raproduit  an  un  aaul  cllchi,  11  aat  filmt  A  partir 
da  I'angia  aupAriaur  gaucha.  da  gaucha  i  droita. 
at  da  haut  an  baa,  an  pranant  la  nombra 
d'Imagaa  nteaaaaira.  l-aa  diagrammoa  auivanta 
llluatrant  la  mithoda. 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

"KaoeOW  MSOUiTION  TIST  CHART 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


_A  /APPLIED  IIVHGE     In 

SSTm  1653  East  Main  Sir**) 

S'-a  Roch«t«r,  N««  York        U609      US* 

"■^  (716)   482  -  0300  -  Phon« 

^S  (^'6)  2Se  -  5989  -  Kgx 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Napoleon  Boxaparte 


BfTSIBa-  JPt_3i!-!JEiB,  3  ■^''.Sti 


CAPTAINS 
'>!'   ADVENTURE 


F.  R     I'  O  C  C)  C  K 


K-XXtU  -^  ■  ".^TH  i-'jr  , -RAITS 


rNDI.\N.\POUS 
TMi:  BOBBS-MT-RRH  I     ;::)Mt'ANy 


N'- WLtU-N     J3i>\APAKlt 


CAPTAINS 
OF  ADVENTURE 


ROGER    POCOCK 

Aiaher  of 
A  Man  in  the  Open,  etc 


lUUSTKATEO  WITH  PORTRAITS 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


€79970     '  Ty 


CoprwGHT  1913 
The  Bobbs-Muull  CoMFAinr 


MMINWOHTH  k  eo. 
■•OKMNDCRt  ANr   raiHTIM 


ADVENTURERS 

What  is  an  adventurer?    One  who  has  adventures? 

Surely  not.    A  person  charged  by  a  virild  rhinoceros 
is  having  an  adventure,  yet  however  wild  the  animal, 
however  wild  the  person,  he  is  only  somebody  wish- 
ing himself  at  home,  not  an  adventurer.    In  diction- 
aries the  adventurer  is  "one  who  seeks  his  fortune 
in  new  ard  hazardous  or  perilous  enterprises."    But 
outside  th.;  pages  of  a  dictionary,  the  man  who  seeks 
his  fortune,  who  really  cares  for  money  and  his  own 
advantage,  sits  at  some  desk  deriding  the  fools  who 
take  thousand-to-one  chances  in  a  gamble  with  Death. 
Did  the  patron  saint  of  adventurers.  Saint  Paul,  or  did 
Saint  Louis,  or  Francis  Drake,  or  Livingstone,  or  Gor- 
don seek  their  own  fortune,  think  you  ?    In  real  life  the 
adventurer  is  one  who  seeks,  not  his  fortune,  but  the 
new  and  hazardous  or  perilous  enterprises.    There 
are  holy  saints  and  scoundrels  among  advei:turers, 
but  all  the  thousands  I  have  known  were  fools  of  the 
romantic  temperament,  dealing  with  life  as  an  artist 
does  with  canvas,  to  color  it  with  fierce  and  vivid 
feelmg,  deep  shade  and  radiant  light,  exulting  in  the 
passions  of  the  sea,  the  terrors  of  the  wilderness,  the 
splendors  of  sunshine  and   starlight,  the  exaltation 
of  battle,  fire  and  hurricane. 

All  nations  have  bred  great  adventurers,  but  the 
living  nation  remembers  them  sending  the  boys  out 


188123 


ADVENTURERS 

into  the  world  enriched  with  memories  of  valor,  a 
heritage  of  national  honor,  an  inspiration  to  ennoble 
their  manhood.  That  is  the  only  real  wealth  of  men 
and  of  peoples.  For  such  purposes  this  book  is 
written,  but  so  vast  is  the  theme  that  this  volume 
would  outgrow  all  reasonable  size  unless  we  set  some 
limit.  A  man  in  the  regular  standing  forces  of  his 
native  state  is  not  dubbed  adventurer.  When,  for 
example,  the  immortal  heroes  Trorap  and  De  Ruyter 
fought  the  British  generals  at  sea,  Blake  and  Monk, 
they  were  no  more  adventurers  than  are  the  police 
constables  who  guard  our  homes  at  night.  Were 
Clive  and  Warren  Hastings  adventurers?  They 
would  turn  in  their  graves  if  one  brought  such  a 
charge.  The  true  type  of  adventurer  is  the  lone- 
hand  pioneer. 

It  is  not  from  any  bias  of  mine  that  the  worthies 
of  Switzeriand,  the  Teutonic  empires  and  Russia, 
are  shut  out  of  this  poor  little  record ;  but  because  it 
seems  that  the  lone-hand  oversea  and  overiand 
pioneers  cwne  mainly  from  nations  directly  fronting 
upon  the  open  sea.  As  far  as  I  am  prejudiced,  it  is 
in  favor  of  old  Norway,  whose  heroes  have  en- 
tranced IT-  with  the  sheer  glory  of  their  perfect  man- 
hood. For  the  rest,  our  own  English-speaking  folk 
are  easier  for  us  to  understand  than  any  foreigners. 

As  to  the  manner  of  record,  we  must  follow  the 
stream  of  history  if  we  would  shoot  the  rapids  of 
adventure. 

Now  as  to  the  point  of  view:  My  literary  pre- 
tensions are  small  and  humble,  but  I  claim  the  right 
of  an  adventurer,  trained  in  thirty-three  trades  of  the 
Lost  Region,  to  absolute  freedom  of  speech  concern- 


ADVENTURERS 

'fag  frontiersmen.  Let  history  bow  down  before 
Columbus,  but  as  a  foremast  seaman,  I  hold  he  was 
not  fit  to  command  a  ship.  Let  history  ignore  Cap- 
torn  John  Smith,  but  as  an  ex-trooper,  I  worship 
him  for  a  leader,  the  paladin  of  Anglo-Saxon 
chivalry,  and  very  father  of  the  United  States. 
Literature  admires  the  well  advertised  Stanley,  but 
we  frontiersmen  prefer  Commander  Cameron,  who 
walked  across  Africa  without  blaming  others  for  his 
own  defects,  or  losing  his  temper,  or  shedding  need- 
less blood.  All  the  celebrities  may  go  hang,  but  when 
we  take  the  field,  send  us  leaders  like  Patrick 
Forbes,  who  conquered  Rhodesia  without  journalists 
in  attendance  to  write  puflfs,  or  any  actual  deluge  of 
public  gratitude. 

The  historic  and  literary  points  of  view  are  widely 
different  from  that  of  our  dusty  rankers. 

When  the  Dutchmen  were  fighting  Spain,  they  in- 
vented and  built  the  first  iron-clad  war-ship  — all 
honor  to  their  seamanship  for  that  I  But  when  the 
winter  came,  a  Spanish  cavalry  charge  across  the  ice 
raptured  the  ship -and  there  was  fine  adventure. 
Both  sides  had  practical  men. 

In  the  same  wars,  a  Spanish  man-at-arms  in  the 
plundering  of  a  city,  took  more  gold  than  he  could 
carry,  so  he  had  the  metal  beaten  into  a  suit  of 
armor,  and  painted  black  to  hide  its  worth  from 
thieves.  From  a  literary  standpoint,  that  was  all 
very  fine,  but  from  our  adventurer  point  of  view  the 
man  was  a  fool  for  wearing  armor  useless  for  de- 
tense,  and  so  heavy  he  could  not  run.  He  was 
killed,  and  a  good  riddance. 
We  value  most  the  man  who  knows  his  business. 


ADVENTURERS 

and  the  more  practical  the  adventurer,  the  fewer  his 
misadventures. 

From  that  point  of  view,  the  book  is  fttempted  with 
all  earnestness;  and  if  the  results  appear  bizarre,  let 
the  shocked  reader  turn  to  better  written  works, 
mention  of  which  is  made  in  notes. 

As  to  the  truthfulness  of  adventurers,  perhaps  we 
are  all  more  or  less  truthful  when  we  try  to  be  good. 
But  there  are  two  kinds  of  adventurers  who  need 
sharply  watching.  The  worst  is  F.  C.  Selous.  Once 
he  lectured  to  amuse  the  children  at  the  Foundling 
Hospital,  and  when  he  came  to  single  combats  with 
a  wounded  lion,  or  a  mad  elephant  he  was  forced  to 
mention  himself  as  one  of  the  persons  present.  He 
blushed.  Then  he  would  race  through  a  hair-lifting 
story  of  the  fight,  and  in  an  apologetic  manner,  give 
all  the  praise  to  the  elephant,  or  the  lion  lately  de- 
ceased. Surely  nobody  could  suspect  him  of  any 
merit,  ."-t  all  the  children  saw  through  him  for  a 
transparent  fraud,  and  even  we  grown-ups  felt  the 
better  for  meeting  so  grand  a  gentleman. 

The  other  sort  of  liar,  who  does  not  understate  his 
own  merits,  is  Jim  Beckwourth.  He  told  his  story, 
quite  truthfully  at  first,  to  a  journalist  who  took  it 
down  in  shorthand.  But  when  the  man  gaped  witB 
admiration  at  the  merest  trifles,  Jim  was  on  his 
mettle,  testing  this  person's  powers  of  belief,  which 
were  absolutely  boundless.  After  that,  of  course  he 
hit  the  high  places,  striking  the  facts  about  once  in 
twenty-four  hours,  and  as  one  reads  the  book,  one 
can  catch  the  thud  whenever  he  hit  the  truth. 

Let  no  man  dream  that  adventure  is  a  thing  of  the 
past  or  that  adventurers  are  growing  scarce.    The 


ADVENTURERS 

only  difficulty  of  this  book  was  to  squeeze  the  past  in 
order  to  make  space  for  living  men  worthy  as  their 
forerunners.  The  list  is  enormous,  and  I  only  dared 
to  estimate  such  men  of  our  own  time  as  I  have 
known  by  correspondence,  acquaintance,  friendship, 
enmity,  or  by  serving  under  their  leadership.  Here 
again,  I  could  only  speak  safely  in  cases  where  there 
were  records,  as  with  Lord  Strathcona,  Colonel  S. 
B.  Steele,  Colonel  Cody,  Major  Forbes,  Captain 
Grogan,  Captain  Amundsen,  Captain  Hansen,  Mr. 
John  Boyes.  Left  out,  among  Americans,  are  M. 
H.  de  Hora  'rho,  in  a  Chilian  campaign,  with  only  a 
boat's  crew,  cut  out  the  battle-ship  Huascar,  plundered 
a  British  tramp  of  her  bunker  coal,  and  fought  H. 
M.  S.  Shah  on  the  high  seas.  Another  American,  Doc- 
tor Bodkin,  was  for  some  years  prime  minister  of 
Makualand,  an  Arab  sultanate.  Among  British  ad- 
venturers, Caid  Belton,  is  one  of  four  successive 
British  commanders-in-chief  to  the  Moorish  sultans. 
Colonel  Tompkins  was  commander-in-chief  to 
Johore.  C.  W.  Mason  was  captured  with  a  ship-load 
of  arms  in  an  attempt  to  make  himself  emperor  of 
China.  Charies  Rose  rode  from  Mazatlan  in  Mexico 
to  Corrientes  in  Paraguay.  A.  W.  V.  Crawley,  a 
chief  of  scouts  to  Lord  Roberts  in  South  Africa, 
rode  out  of  action  after  being  seven  times  shot,  and 
he  rides  now  a  little  askew  in  consequence. 

To  sum  up,  if  one  circle  of  acquaintances  includes 
such  a  group  to-day,  the  adventurer  is  not  quite  an 
extinct  species,  and  indeed,  wc  seem  not  at  the  end, 
but  at  the  beginning  of  the  greatest  of  all  adventurous 
eras,  that  of  the  adventurers  of  the  air. 


CONTENTS 


I 

II 
in 

IV 

V 
VI 
VII 

vni 

K 
X 

XI 

XII 

XUI 

XIV 

XV 

XVI 

xvn 
xvni 

XIX 
XX 

XXI 
XXII 
XXIU 
XXIV 
XXV 
XXVI 

xxvn 
xxvin 

XXIX 
XXX 

XXXI 
XXXII 
XXXIII 
XXXIV 


THtVixnioinAMnuc* i 

THiCtUMDiai J 

THi  Miodu  Aon  m  Ama         •        ...  II 
Thi  Maiviloui  Aornn-vin  or  8n  lorn 

MAUMDiriLU 2S 

CoLinmn                        ]2 

Thi  CoKgvuT  or  Muico         ....  17 

Thi  CoNQum' or  Pnv 44 

ThiCokiaiu ]( 

POKTVOAt  M  THI  I«Din 55 

RaiahBkoou '  .  <a 

THiSnn (9 

A  YiAR't  ADTnmmn h 

KitCaiioh II 

Thi  Mam  Who  Wai  A  God                      .       !  100 

Thi  Okiat  Fiuiurm 106 

BorrALo  Bill Jjj 

Thi  ADmAUAN  DniKT ijj 

Thi  Hno-STAnuuH iji 

The  SriciAL  CoiuwoHOorr  .131 

Lord  Stiathcora 142 

Thi  81A  HuHTiu 141 

Thi  Buihiahciu 15^ 

Thi  PAttnio  or  THI  BuoH  .  .142 

GOIDOH 17J 

Thi  Outlaw 179 

A  Kino  at  Twnrnr-Fivi is« 

Jouimr  or  Ewart  Giogah      ....  194 

Thi  Cowior  PuuDiNT 202 

Thi  Noithwkt  Paoaoi 201 

John  HAwnm 215 

FlANCUDlAU 219 

Thi  Four  AiUADAi 22J 

Sir  HnupHRir  Gilbert 231 

Sir  Waltir  Ralbch 234 


CONTENTS-Om^imi^ 


XXXV 

XXXVI 

XXXVII 

XXXVIII 
XXXIX 

XL 

Xtl 

XUI 

XLIII 

XLIV 

XLV 

XLVI 

XLVIT 

XLvin 

XLIX 
L 
LI 

LII 
LIU 
LIV 

LV 
LVI 


C«rrA«  Jom  8Mmi         jjj 

THiEuocwmi '.  Mt 

TriVotaoivm 2S2 

TriExtlouu 2M 

THlPlRikTa '.        '.  Mt 

D*mn.  Boom ."       .'  272 

AKOitw  Jacemi       ....!.*  2ID 

8*11  HaurroM !  212 

Daty  Ckockitt        ■•..!!  215 

ALtXANDtR  MACKtmai 292 

Thi  VVHrri  MAM'f  Comino        .        .       ,       ',  nt 

ThiBiavu !  J02 

Thi  Coigvnr  or  TMi  Polo     ....  107 

WoMni jjj 

The  CoNguiaom  or  iMDiA                ,  ',  i    jji 

Thi  MAk  Who  Shot  Lord  NtuoM  .  ,  .327 

Thi  Fau,  op  Natolioh             .  ,'    JJJ 

RitiNoWoLr !  !    J40 

SlMOM  BOUVAK  .....'.'.*      )50 

Thi  Aluiianti  Cochiami  .  .  .  !  J!7 
Thi  Soum  Sia  Cahmuau  ,  .  .  ,'  jjj 
A  Tai.1  or  VnraiAHCi jji 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


CAPTAINS 
OF  ADVENTURE 


A.  D.  9g4 

THE  VIKINGS  IN  AMERICA 

V^REVERENT  study  of  heroes  in  novels,  also  in 
-»  ■»•  operas  and  melodramas,  where  one  may  see 
them  for  half-a-crown,  has  convinced  me  that  they 
must  be  very  trying  to  live  with.  They  get  on 
people's  nerves.    Hence  the  villains. 

Now  Harold  of  the  Fair  Hair  was  a  hero,  and  he 
fell  m  love  with  a  lady,  but  she  would  not  marry  him 
unless  he  made  himself  king  of  Norway.  So  he 
made  himself  the  first  king  of  all  Norway,  and  she 
had  to  marry  him,  which  served  her  right. 

But  then  there  were  the  gentlemen  of  his  majesty's 
opposition  who  did  not  want  him  to  be  king,  who  felt 
that  there  was  altogether  too  much  Harold  in  Norway. 
They  left,  and  went  to  Iceland  to  get  away  from  the 

Iceland  had  been  shown  on  the  map  since  the  year 
A.  D.  115,  and  when  the  vikings  arrived  they  found 
a  colony  of  Irish  monks  who  said  they  had  come 

f; 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


there  "  because  they  desired  for  the  love  of  God  to 
be  in  a  state  of  pilgrimage,  they  recked  not  where." 

Perhaps  the  vikings  sent  them  to  Heaven.  Later 
on  it  seems  they  found  a  little  Irish  settlement  on 
the  New  England  coast,  and  heard  of  great  Ireland, 
a  colony  farther  south.  That  is  the  first  rumor  we 
have  about  America. 

The  Norsf;iiien  settled  down,  pagans  in  Christian 
Iceland.  They  earned  a  living  with  fish  and  cattle, 
and  made  an  honest  penny  raiding  the  Mediterranean. 
They  had  internecine  sports  of  their  own,  and  on  the 
whole  were  reatonably  happy.  Then  in  course  of 
trade  Captain  Gunbjom  sighted  an  unknown  land  two 
hundred  fifty  miles  to  the  westward.  That  made  the 
Icelanders  restless,  for  there  is  always  something 
which  calls  to  Northern  blood  from  beyond  the  sea 
line. 

Most  restless  of  all  was  Red  Eric,  hysterical  be- 
cause he  hated  a  humdrum  respectable  life;  indeed, 
he  committed  so  many  murders  that  he  had  to  be 
deported  as  a  public  nuisance.  He  set  off  exultant 
to  find  Gunbjorn's  unknown  land.  So  any  natural 
born  adventurer  commits  little  errors  of  taste  unless 
he  can  find  an  outlet.  It  is  too  much  dog-chain 
that  makes  biting  dogs. 

When  he  found  the  new  land  it  was  all  green,  with 
swaths  of  wild  flowers.  I  know  that  land  and  its 
bright  lowlands,  backed  by  sheer  walled  mountains, 
with  splintered  pinnacles  robed  in  the  sp-endors  of 
the  inland  ice.  The  trees  were  knee  high,  no  crops 
could  possibly  ripen,  but  Eric  was  so  pleased  that 
after  two  winters  he  went  back  to  Iceland  ad- 
vertising for  settlers  to  fill  his  colony.    Greenland 


THE  VIKINGS  IN  AMERICA  3 

he  called  the  place,  because  "  Many  will  go  there  if 
the  place  has  a  fair  name."  They  did,  and  when  the 
sea  had  wiped  out  most  of  the  twenty-five  ships,  the 
surviving  colonists  found  Greenland  commodious  and 
residential  as  the  heart  could  wish. 

They  were  not  long  gone  from  the  port  of  Skal- 
holt  when  young  Captain  Bjami  came  in  from  the 
sea  and  asked  for  his  father.  But  father  Heljulf 
had  sailed  for  Greenland,  so  the  youngster  set  oflf  in 
pursuit  although  nobody  knew  the  way.  Bjami  al- 
ways spent  alternate  yuletides  at  his  father's  hearth, 
so  if  the  hearth-stone  moved  he  had  to  find  it  some- 
how. These  vikings  are  so  human  and  natural  that 
one  can  follow  their  thought  quite  easily.  When, 
for  instance,  Bjami,  instead  of  coming  to  Green- 
land, found  a  low,  well  timbered  country,  he  knew 
he  had  made  a  mistake,  so  it  was  no  use  landing. 
Rediscovering  the  American  mainlai: !  was  a  habit 
which  persisted  until  the  time  of  Columbus,  and  not 
a.  feat  to  make  a  fuss  about  A  northerly  course  and 
a  pure  stroke  of  luck  carried  Bjami  to  Greenland 
and  his  father's  house. 

Because  they  had  no  timber,  and  driftwood  was 
scarce,  the  colonists  were  much  excited  when  they 
heard  of  forests,  and  cursed  Bjami  for  not  having 
landed.  Anyway,  here  was  a  fine  excuse  for  an  ex- 
pedition in  search  of  fire-wood,  so  Leif,  the  son  of 
Red  Eric,  bought  Bjami's  ship.  Being  tall  and  of 
commanding  presence  he  rallied  thirty-five  of  a  crew, 
and,  being  young,  expected  that  his  father  would  take 
command.  Eric  indeed  rode  a  distance  of  four  hun- 
dred feet  from  his  house  against  the  rock,  which  was 
called  Brattelid,  to  the  shore  of  the  inlet,  but  his  pony 


4  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

fell  and  threw  him,  such  a  bad  omen  that  he  rode 
home  again.  Leif  Ericsen,  therefore,  with  winged 
helmet  and  glittering  breastplate,  mounted  the  steer- 
board,  laid  hands  on  the  steer-oar  and  bade  his  men 
shove  off.  The  colonists  on  rugged  dun  ponies  lined 
the  shore  to  cheer  the  adventurers,  and  the  ladies 
waved  their  kerchiefs  from  the  rock  behind  the  house 
while  the  dragon  ship,  shield-lines  ablaze  in  the  su 
oars  thrashing  blue  water,  and  painted  square-sail 
set,  took  the  fair'  wind  on  that  famous  voyage. 
She  discovered  Stoneland,  which  is  the  Newfound- 
land-Labrador coast,  and  Woodland,  which  is  Nova 
Scotia.  Then  came  the  Further  Strand,  the  long 
and  wonderful  beacher.  of  Massachusetts,  and  be- 
yond was  Narragansett  Bay,  where  they  built  win- 
ter houses,  pastured  their  cattle,  and  found  wild 
grapes.  It  was  here  that  Tyrkir,  the  little  old  Ger- 
man man  slave  who  was  Leif's  nurse,  made  wine  and 
got  most  gorgeously  drunk.  On  the  homeward  pas- 
sage Leif  brought  t'tiber  and  raisins  to  Greenland. 

Leif  went  away  to  Norway,  where  as  a  guest  of 
King  Olaf  he  became  a  Christian,  and  in  his  absence 
his  brother  Thorwald  made  the  second  voyage  to 
what  is  now  New  England.  After  wintering  at 
Leif's  house  in  Wineland  the  Good  he  went  south- 
ward and,  somewhere  near  the  site  of  New  York, 
met  with  savages.  Nine  of  them  lay  under  three  up- 
turned canoes  on  the  beach,  so  the  vikings  killed 
eight  just  foi  fun,  but  were  fools,  letting  the  ninth 
escape  to  raise  the  tribes  for  war.  So  there  was  a 
battle,  and  Tnorwald  the  Helpless  was  shot  in  the 
eye,  which  served  him  right.  One  of  his  brothers 
came  afterward  in  search  of  the  body,  which  may 


THE  VIKINGS  IN  AMERICA  s 

have  been  that  same  seated  skeleton  in  bronze  armor 
that  nme  hundred  years  later  was  dug  up  at  Cross 
Point 

Two  or  three  years  after  ThorwaWs  death  his 
widow  married  a  visitor  from  Norway,  Eric's  guest 
at  Brattelid.  the  rich  Thorfin  Karlsefne.  He  also  set 
out  for  Vinland,  taking  Mrs.  Karlsefne  and  four 
other  women,  also  a  Scottish  lad  and  lass  (very 
savage)  and  an  Irishman,  besides  a  crew  of  sixty  and 
some  cattle.  They  built  a  fort  where  the  natives 
came  tradmg  skins  for  strips  of  red  cloth,  or  to 
fight  a  battle,  or  to  be  chased,  shrieking  with  fright 
by  Thorfin's  big  red  bull.  There  Mrs.  Karlsefne 
pve  birth  to  Snorri  the  Firstborn,  whose  sons  Thor- 
lak  and  Brand  became  priests  and  were  the  first  two 
bishops  of  Greenland. 

After  Karlsefne's  return  to  Greenland  the  next 
voyage  was  made  by  one  of  Eric's  daughters;  and 
presently  Leif  the  Fortunate  came  home  from  Nor- 
way to  his  father's  house,  bringing  a  priest.  Then 
Mrs.  Leif  built  a  church  at  Brattelid,  old  Eric  the 
Red  being  thoroughly  disgusted,  and  Greenland  and 
Vinland  became  Christian,  but  Eric  never. 

As  long  as  Norway  traded  with  her  American 
colonies  Vinland  exported  timber  and  dried  fruit 
while  Greenland  sent  sheepskins,  ox  hides,  sealskins, 
walrus-skm  rope  ar  !  tusks  to  Iceland  and  Europe. 
In  return  they  got  iron  and  settlers.  But  then  began 
a  senes  of  disasters,  for  when  the  Black  Death 
swept  Europe,  the  colonies  were  left  to  their  fate, 
and  some  of  the  colonists  in  despair  renounced  their 
faith  to  turn  Eskimo.  In  1349  the  last  timber  ship 
irom  Nova  Scotia  was  lately  returned  to  Europe 


6  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

when  the  plague  struck  Norway,  l.iere  is  a  gap  of 
fifty-two  years  in  the  record,  and  all  we  know  of 
Greenland  is  that  the  western  villages  were  destroyed 
by  Eskimos  who  killed  eighteen  Norsemen  and  carried 
off  the  boys.  Then  the  plague  destroyed  two-thirds 
of  the  people  in  Iceland,  a  bad  winter  killed  nine- 
tenths  of  all  their  cattle,  and  remained  of  the 
hapless  colony  was  ravaged  by  English  fishermen. 
No  longer  could  Iceland  send  any  help  to  Greenland, 
but  still  there  was  intercourse  because  we  know  that 
seven  years  later  the  vicar  of  Garde  married  a  girl 
in  the  east  villages  to  a  young  Icelander. 

Meanwhile,  in  plague-stricken  England,  Bristol, 
our  biggest  seaport,  had  not  enough  men  livinc;  even 
to  bury  the  dead,  and  labor  was  so  scarce  that  the 
crops  rotted  for  lack  of  harvesters.  That  is  why  an 
English  squadron  raided  Iceland,  Greenland,  perhaps 
even  Vinland,  for  slaves,  and  the  people  were  carried 
away  into  captivity.  Afterward  England  paid  com- 
pensation to  Denmark  and  returned  the  folk  to  their 
homes,  but  in  1448  the  pope  wrota  to  a  Norse 
bishop  concerning  their  piteous  condition.  And 
there  the  story  ends,  for  in  that  year  the  German 
merchants  at  Bergen  in  Norway  squabbled  with  the 
forty  master  mariners  of  the  American  .trade.  The 
sailors  had  boycotted  their  Hanseatic  League,  so  the 
Germans  asked  them  to  dinner,  and  murdered  them. 
From  that  time  no  man  knew  the  way  to  test  America. 


A.  D.  1248 

THE  CRUSADERS 

TN  the  seventh  century  of  the  reign  of  Our  Lord 
•*  Christ,  arose  the  Prophet  Mahomet.  To  his  fol- 
lowers he  generously  gave  Heaven,  and  as  much  of 
the  earth  as  they  could  get,  so  the  true  believers 
n«de  haste  to  occupy  goodly  and  fruitful  possessions 
of  Christian  powers,  including  the  Holy  Land.  The 
owners  were  useful  as  slaves. 

Not   having   been   consulted   in   this   matter,   the 
Chnstians  took  offense,  making  war  upon  Islam  in 
seven  warm  campaigns,  wherein  they  held  and  lost  by 
turns  the  holy  sepulcher,  so  that  the  country  where 
our  Lord  taught  peace,  was  always  drenched  with 
blood.    In  the  end,  our  crusades  were  not  a  success. 
About  Saint  Louis  and  the  sixth  crusade: 
At  the  opening  of  the  story,  that  holy  but  delightful 
kmg  of  France  lay  so  near  death  that  his  two  lady 
nurses  had  a  squabble,  the  one  pulling  a  cloth  over 
his  face  because  he  was  dead,  while  the  other  snatched 
It  away  because  he  was  still  alive.    At  last  he  sent 
the  pair  of  them  to  fetch  the  cross,  on  which  he 
vowed  to  deliver  the  Holy  Land.    Then  he  had  to 
get  well,  so  he  did,  sending  word  to  his  barons  to  roll 
up  their  men  for  war. 
Among  the  nobles  was  the  young  Lord  of  Joinville, 
7 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTXJRE 


seneschal  of  Champagne  —  a  merry  little  man  with 
eight  hundred  pounds  a  year  of  his  own.  But  then, 
what  with  an  expensive  mother,  his  wife,  and  some 
little  worries,  he  had  to  pawn  his  lands  before  he 
could  take  the  field  with  his  two  knights-banneret, 
nine  knights,  their  men-at-arms,  and  the  servants. 
He  shared  with  another  lord  the  hire  of  a  ship  from 
Marseilles,  but  when  they  joined  his  majesty  in 
Cyprus  he  had  only  a  few  pounds  left,  and  the 
kn-ghts  would  have,  deserted  but  that  the  king  gave 
him  a  staff  appointment  at  eight  hundred  pounds  a 
year. 

The  king  was  a  holy  saint,  a  glorious  knight  errant, 
full  of  fun,  but  a  thoroughly  incr  ■-  :petent  general. 
Instead  of  taking  Jerusalem  by  surprise,  he  '■lust 
needs  raid  Egypt,  giving  the  soldan  of  Babylon  the 
Less  (Cairo)  plenty  of  time  to  arrange  a  warm  r> 
ception.  The  rival  armies  had  a  battle  on  the  beach, 
after  which  Saint  Louis  sat  down  in  front  of 
Damietta,  where  he  found  time  to  muddle  his  com- 
missariat 

On  the  other  hand,  the  soldan  was  not  at  all  well, 
having  been  poisoned  by  a  rival  prince,  and  paid  no 
heed  to  the  carrier  pigeons  with  their  despairing 
messages  from  the  front.  This  discouraged  the 
Moslems,  who  abandoned  Damietta  and  fled  inland, 
hotly  pursued  by  the  French.  As  a  precaution,  how- 
ever, they  sent  round  their  ships,  which  collected  the 
French  supplies  proceeding  to  the  front.  The  Chris- 
tians had  plenty  of  fighting  and  a  deal  of  starving  to 
do,  not  to  mention  pestilence  in  their  ill-managed 
camps.  So  they  came  to  a  canal  which  had  to  be 
bridged,  but  the  artful  paynim  cut  away  the  land  in 


THE  CRUSADERS  9 

front  of  the  bridge  head,  so  that  there  was  no  ground 
on  which  the  French  could  arrive.  In  the  end  the 
Christians  had  to  swim  and,  as  they  were  heavily 
armored,  many  were  drowned  in  the  mud.  Join- 
ville's  party  found  a  dry  crossing  upstream,  and  their 
troubles  began  at  the  enemy's  camp  whence  the  Turks 
were  flying. 

"  While  we  were  driving  them  through  their  camp, 
I  perceived  a  Saracen  who  was  mounting  his  horse 
one  of  his  knights  holding  the  bridle.  At  the  mo- 
ment he  had  his  two  hands  on  the  saddle  to  mount, 
I  gave  him  of  my  lance  under  the  armpit,  and  laid 
hun  dead.  When  his  knight  saw  that,  he  left  his 
lord  and  the  horse,  and  struck  me  with  his  lance  as 
I  passed,  between  the  two  shoulders,  holding  me  so 
pressed  down  that  I  could  not  draw  the  sword  at  my 
belt.  I  had,  therefore,  to  draw  th-.-  sword  attached 
to  my  horse,  and  when  he  saw  that  he  withdrew  his 
lance  and  left  me." 

Here  in  the  camp  Joinville's  detachment  was 
rushed  by  six  thousand  Turks,  "who  pressed  upon 
me  with  their  lances.  My  horse  kneh  under  the 
weight,  and  I  fell  forward  over  the  horse's  ears.  I 
got  up  as  soon  as  ever  I  could  with  my  shield  at  my 
neck,  and  my  sword  in  my  hand. 

"Again  a  great  rout  of  Turks  came  rushing  upon 
us,  and  bore  me  to  the  ground  and  went  over  me,  and 
caused  my  shield  to  fly  from  my  neck." 

So  the  little  party  gained  the  wall  of  a  ruined 
house,  where  they  were  sorely  beset:  Lord  Hugh,  of 
Ecot,  with  three  lance  wounds  in  the  face.  Lord 
Frederick,  of  Loupey,  with  a  lance  wound  between  the 
shoulders,  so  large  that  the  Wood  flowed  from  his 


10 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


body  as  from  the  bung  hole  of  a  catk,  and  my  Lord 
of  Sivery  with  a  sword-stroke  in  the  face,  so  that 
his  nose  fell  over  his  lips.  Joinville,  too  badly 
wounded  to  fight,  was  holding  horses,  while  Turks 
who  had  climbed  to  the  roof  were  prodding  from 
above  with  their  lances.  Then  came  Anjou  to  the 
rescue,  and  presently  the  king  with  his  main  army. 
The  fight  became  a  general  engagement,  while  slowly 
the  Christian  force'  was  driven  backward  upon  the 
river.  The  day  had  become  very  hot,  and  the  stream 
was  covered  with  lances  and  shields,  and  with  horses 
and  men  drowning  and  perishing. 

Near  by  De  Joinville's  position,  a  streamlet  entered 
the  river,  and  across  that  ran  a  bridge  by  which  the 
Turks  attempted  to  cut  the  king's  retreat.  This 
bridge  the  little  hero,  well  mounted  now,  held  for 
hours,  covering  the  flight  of  French  detachments.  At 
the  head  of  one  such  party  rode  Count  Peter,  of 
Brittany,  spitting  the  blood  from  his  mouth  and 
shouting  "Hal  by  God's  head,  have  you  ever  seen 
such  riffraff?" 

"  In  front  of  us  were  two  of  the  king's  sergeants ; 
.  .  .  and  the  Turks  .  .  .  brought  a  large  number 
of  churls  afoot,  who  pelted  them  with  lumps  of  earth, 
but  were  never  able  to  force  them  back  upon  us.  At 
last  they  brought  a  churl  on  foot,  who  thrice  threw 
Greek  fire  at  them.  Once  William  of  Boon  received 
the  pot  of  Greek  fire  on  his  target,  for  if  the  fire  had 
caught  any  of  his  garments  he  must  have  been  burnt 
alive.  We  were  all  covered  with  the  darts  that  failed 
to  hit  the  sergeants.  Now,  it  chanced  that  I  found  a 
Saracen's  quilted  tunic  lined  with  tow;  I  turned  the 
open    side    towards   me,    and    made    a    shield  ,  .  , 


THE  CRUSADERS 


II 

if  S.i'^  Z'  ^  •*'^'""'  *°'  I  *«•  """y  wounded 
^     ^  '^«»  «  five  places,  and  my  horse  in  fifteen. 

ii."--      •  **^  S°""*  «•*  Soissons.  in  that  point  of 
<iMipr,  jested  with  me  and  said, 

"'Seneschal,  let  these  curs  howll    By  God's  bonnet 

So  came  the  constable  of  France,  who  relieved 
Jo.nv.lle  and  sent  him  to  guard  the  king. 

take  oVhi,T? '!  ^  ?T'  *° ""  '''"f- 1  ""<'«  •"■« 

take  off  hw  helmet,  and  lent  him  my  steel  cap  so  that 
he  might  have  air."  p  «»  xnat 

A^T'^S^-  ''"*K*  'T'"*'"*  "•'"  *•"*  'he  Count  of 
„  i''  **  "*^'  '"■'"'"'■'  *»»  «  paradise. 
Ah.  Sire,"  said  the  provost,  "  bt-  of  good  comfort 
herein,  for  never  did  king  of  Fn.nce  ^so  mS 
honor  as  you  have  gained  this  day.  For  in  ordfr 
to  figh  your  enem.es  you  have  pas«d  over  a  river 
sw.mm,ng.  and  you  have  discomfited  the^  «d 
dnven  them  from  the  field,  and  taken  vheir  engin^. 

n"ght."  *"""   *'"'■""  y°"   *'»   ^««P   th^. 

for'^^lH^h^'"^-'^"''';.   "^  ^  ^  '^o^h'-M 

That  night  the  captured  camp  was  attacked  in 
force  much  to  the  grief  of  De  Joinvillt?  hfa 
kmghts.  who  ruefully  put  on  chain  mail  over  ther 

J!  to  fljht     "'^'''  "^"^  ^"''^'  ^^  P"t  them 
whole  Saracen  army  upon  the  aristian  camp,  but 


ta  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

thanks  to  the  troopt  of  Count  William,  of  Flanden, 
De  Joinville  and  hU  wounded  knighu  were  not  m  the 
thick  of  the  fray. 

"  Wherein,"  he  »y»,  "  God  ihowed  t'«  great  cour- 
tesy, for  neither  I  nor  my  knights  had  our  hawberks 
(chain  shirU)  and  shields,  because  we  had  all  been 
wounded."  ,  . ,   ^,   ,  . . 

You  see  De  Joinville  had  the  sweet  faith  that  hu 
God  was  a  gentleman. 

After  that  the  sorrowful  army  lay  nme  days  in 
camp  till  the  bodies  of  the  dead  floated  to  the  surface 
of  the  canal,  and  eight  days  more  whUe  a  hundred 
hired  vagabonds  cleared  the  stream.  But  the  army 
lived  on  eels  and  water  from  that  canal,  while  all  of 
them  sickened  of  scurvy,  and  hundreds  died.  Under 
the  hands  of  the  surgeons  the  men  of  that  dying  army 
cried  like  women.  Tllen  came  ai.  attempt  o  retreat 
in  ships  to  the  coast,  but  the  way  was  blocked,  the 
little  galleys  were  captured  one  by  one,  the  king  was 
taken,  and  what  then  remained  of  the  host  were 
prisoners,  the  sick  put  to  death,  the  rich  held  for  ran- 
som, the  poor  sold  away  into  slavery. 

Saint  Louis  appeared  to  be  dying  of  dysentery  and 
acurvy,  he  was  threatened  with  torture,  but  day  alter 
day  found  strength  and  courage  to  bargain  with  the 
soldan  of  Babylon  for  the  ransom  of  his  people. 
Once  the  negotiations  broke  down  because  the 
soldan  was  murdered  by  his  own  emirs,  but  the 
king  went  on  bargaining  now  with  the  murderers. 
For  his  own  ransom  he  gave  the  city  of  DamietU, 
for  that  of  his  knights  he  paid  the  royal  treasure 
that  was  on  board  a  galley  in  the  port,  and  for  the 


THE  CRUSADERS  13 

deliverance  of  the  common  men,  he  had  to  niie 
money  in  France. 

So  came  the  releaie,  and  the  emin  would  have 
been  aihamed  to  let  their  captive  knighti  leave  the 
prison  fasting.  So  De  Joinville's  party  had  "  fritteri 
of  cheese  roasted  in  the  sun  so  that  worms  should  not 
come  therein,  and  hard  boiled  eggs  cooked  four  or 
five  days  before,  and  these,  in  our  honor,  had  been 
painted  with  divers  colors." 

After  that  came  the  counting  of  the  ransom  on 
board  the  royal  galley,  with  the  dreadful  conclusion 
that  they  were  short  of  the  sum  by  thirty  thousand 
hvres.  De  Joinville  went  off  to  the  galley  of  the 
marshal  of  the  Knights  Templars,  where  he  tried  to 
borrow  the  money. 

"Many  were  the  hard  and  angry  words  which 
passed  between  him  and  me." 

For  one  thing  the  borrower  newly  released  from 
prison,  looked  like  a  ragged  beggar,  and  for  the  rest, 
the  treasure  of  the  Templars  was  a  trust  fund  not  to 
be  lent  to  any  one.  They  stood  in  the  hold  in  front 
of  the  chest  of  treasure,  De  Joinville  demanding  the 
key,  then  threatening  with  an  ax  to  make  of  it  the 
kmg's  key. 

"  We  see  right  well,"  said  the  treasurer,  "  that  you 
are  using  force  againsi  us."  And  on  that  excuse 
yielded  the  key  to  the  ragged  beggar,  tottering  with 
weakness,  a  very  specter  of  disease  and  famine. 

"  I  threw  out  the  silver  I  found  therein  and  went, 
and  sat  on  the  prow  of  our  little  vessel  that  had 
brought  me.  And  I  took  the  marshal  of  France  and 
left  him  with  the  silver  in  the  Templars'  galley  and 


■m 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


on  the  galley  I  put  the  minister  of  the  Trinity.  On 
the  galley  the  marshal  handed  the  silver  to  the  min- 
ister, and  the  minister  gave  it  over  to  me  on  the  little 
vessel  where  I  sat.  When  we  had  ended  and  came 
tov.'ards  the  king's  galley,  I  began  to  shout  to  the 
king. 

" '  Sire  I  Sire !  see  how  well  I  am  fur- 
nished 1 ' 

"And  the  saintly  man  received  me  right  willingly 
and  right  joyfully." 

So  the  ransom  was  completed,  the  king's  ransom 
and  that  of  the  greatest  nobles  of  France,  this  group 
of  starving  ragged  beggars  in  a  dingey. 

Years  followed  of  hard  campaigning  in  Palestine. 
Once  Saint  Louis  was  even  invited  by  the  soldan  of 
Damascus  to  visit  as  a  pilgrim  that  Holy  City  which 
he  could  never  enter  as  a  conqueror.  But  Saint  Louis 
and  his  knights  were  reminded  of  a  story  about 
Richard  the  Lion-Hearted,  king  of  England.  For 
Richard  once  marched  almost  within  sight  of  the 
capital  so  that  a  knight  cried  out  to  him : 

"  Sire,  come  so  far  hither,  and  I  will  show  you 
Jerusalem  I " 

But  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  had  just  deserted  with 
half  the  crusading  army,  lest  it  be  said  that  the  Eng- 
lish had  taken  Jerusalem.  So  when  Richard  heard 
the  knight  calling  he  threw  his  coat  armor  before 
his  eyes,  all  in  tears,  and  said  to  our  .Savior, 

"  Fair  Lord  God,  I  pray  Thee  suffer  me  not  to  see 
Thy  Holy  City  since  I  can  not  deliver  it  from  the 
hands  of  thine  enemies." 

King  Louis  the  Saint  followed  the  example  of 
King   Richard    the   Hero,   and   both  left    Palestino 


THil'  CUUSADERS  15 

FrlncT.  '""'  '"  *'  '"'=  °'  *"  <'"'=»'''  ""val  from 
T  r"^,!"'".,!  heard  tell  that  she  was  come"  said  De 
Jomvme,  "I  rose  from  before  the  king  a^d  ^„t  to 

back  to  t'h:i  ''  \"  *°  '"^  ^^^''^'  -d  whenTcL^: 
back  to  the  kmg.  who  was  in  his  chapel,  he  asked  me 
If  the  queen  and  his  children  were  well-  and  I  t^H 
h.m  yes.    And  he  said,  'I  knew  when  you  rose  foln 

to  li  th,',.       r      ""P'^"  *•*  '"^'  '*  *^=  "ot  seemly 
T^  d„   ..     !;""^";  '°  °"''^  *"'  ""d  children." 

fulfn'f  If  ™/^  *'  ''"■"^  '""^  1"««n  to  France  wa5 
hte  for  such  Irttle  troubles  as  a  w,«*  and  a  s«  fiS 

put  ttequeeilZT'"  "'u""""'"'  "''-  ^^e  had 
k^chief  t^r^^,^'  '"'"  ''"'"'*'•  ""«'  t^in?  the 
S  L  •  '^°  '^"""'^  »hout  her  head.  Lew 

the  Z:«  ^!T  uf  ''**'  8°"'  '"t^  the  cabin  where 
a^^rr      ^''P*'  "^"^  *e  queen's  chamber    the 

fr^  th?re:chTef  S  t  ''tJ'  ""«"*  «^-  "^^ 
«n  me  Kerchief  the  fire  passed  Id  the  cloths  with 


i6  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

which  the  queen's  garments  were  covered.  When 
the  queen  aw<Ae  she  saw  her  cabin  all  in  flames,  and 
jumped  up  quite  naked  and  took  the  kerchief  and 
threw  it  all  burning  into  the  sea,  and  took  the  cloths 
and  extinguished  them.  Those  who  were  in  the 
barge  behind  the  ship  cried,  but  not  very  loud,  '  Firel 
fire! '  I  lifted  up  my  head  and  saw  that  the  kerchief 
still  burned  with  a  clear  flame  on  the  sea,  which  was 
very  still. 

"  I  put  on  my  tunic  as  quickly  as  I  could,  and  went 
and  sat  with  the  mariners. 

"While  I  sat  there  my  squire,  who  slept  before 
me,  came  to  me  and  said  that  the  king  was  awake, 
and  asked  where  I  was.  '  And  I  told  him,'  said  he, 
'that  you  were  in  your  cabin;  and  the  king  said  to 
me, "  Thou  liest  1 " '  While  we  were  thus  speaking,  be- 
hold the  queen's  clerk  appeared,  Master  Geoffrey, 
and  said  to  me,  'Be  not  afraid,  nothing  has  hap- 
pened.' And  I  said,  'Master  Geoffrey,  go  and  tell 
the  queen  that  the  king  is  awake,  and  she  should  go 
to  him,  and  set  his  mind  at  ease.' 

"  On  the  following  day  the  constable  of  France,  and 
my  Lord  Peter  the  chamberlain,  and  my  Lord  Gervais, 
the  master  of  the  pantry,  said  to  the  king,  'What 
happened  in  the  night  that  we  heard  mention  of  fire? ' 
and  I  said  not  a  word.  Then  said  the  king,  '  What 
h^ipened  was  by  mischance,  and  the  seneschal  (De 
Joinville)  is  more  reticent  than  I.  Now  I  will  tell 
you,'  said  he,  '  how  it  came  about  that  we  might  all 
have  been  burned  this  night,'  and  he  told  them  what 
had  befallen,  and  said  to  me, '  I  command  you  hence- 
forth not  to  go  to  rest  until  you  have  put  out  all  fires, 
except  the  great  fire  that  is  in  the  hold  of  the  ship.' 


THE  CRUSADERS 


t£tT,f'*  °"  *'  "'"■P''  ^""^t)-    'And  take  note 

that  I  shall  not  go  to  rest  till  you  come  back  to  me.' " 

It  ,s  pleasant  to  think  of  the  queen's  pluck,  the 

Si  T^u  *'  "^^^'^  '^"=''  """^  ''>  "««  *e  inner 
prvaces  of  that  ancient  ship.  After  seven  hundred 
years  the  gossip  ,s  fresh  and  vivid  as  this  morning's 
news.  " 

,II?\'^'"!,'"'°"^''*  P*'"'*'  P'-°'P«"'ty  and  content  to 
all  his  kmgdom,  and  De  Joinville  was  very  angry  when 
in  failing  health  Saint  Louis  was  persl^aded  to  a" 
tempt  another  crusade  in  Africa. 

"So  great  was  his  weakness  that  he  suffered  me 
to  carry  him  m  my  arms  from  the  mansion  of  the 
Count  of  Auxerre  to  the  abbey  of  the  Franciscans." 

So  went  the  king  to  his  death  in  Tunis,  a  bungling 
soldier,  but  a  saint  on  a  throne,  the  noble.t  of  aH 

k^own    '"'  ^''""'  ""^""'^  ^^""«  ^'  ^^' 

Long  afterward  the  king  came  in  a  dream  to  see 

^J°ZT-       ^^^'^^'''"''y    i°y°"^    and    glad    of 

I  will  lodge  you  m  a  house  of  mine,  that  is  in  a  city 
Wh-"'  "^^"^''.F''-"-'  And  he  answered  m^ 
laughing,  and  said  to  me,  'Lord  of  Joinville,  by  the 
faith  I  owe  you,  I  have  no  wish  so  soon  to  go  hence '  " 
It  was  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  De  Joinville  wrote 

XnT"'  "  '  "^^  '"""^  '^  '''''  °°* 

doS^.„J^S?joS"-Dl'|'co':^'"'"^"'   "^   Villd.«. 


Ill 

A.  D.  1260 

THE  MIDDLE  AGES  IN  ASIA 
1 

THE  year  1260  found  Saint  Louis  of  France  busy 
reforming  his  kingdom,  while  over  the  way  the 
English  barons  were  reforming  King  Henry  III  on 
the  eve  of  the  founding  of  parliament,  and  the 
Spaniards  were  inventing  the  bull  fight  by  way  of  a 
national  sport.  Our  own  national  pastime  then  was 
baiting  Jews.  They  got  twopence  per  week  in  the 
pound  for  the  use  of  their  money,  but  next  year  one  of 
them  was  caught  in  the  act  of  cheating,  a  little  error 
which  led  to  the  massacre  of  sever  hundred. 

That  year  the  great  Khan  Kublai  came  to  the 
throne  of  the  Mongol  Empire,  a  pastoral  realm  of  the 
grass  lands  extendii^g  from  the  edge  of  Europe  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  Kublai  began  to  build  his  capital, 
the  city  of  Pekin,  and  in  all  directions  his  people  ex- 
tended their  conquests.  The  looting  and  burning  of 
Bagdad  took  them  seven  days  and  the  resistless  pres- 
sure of  their  hordes  was  forcing  the  Turks  upoq 
Europe. 

Meanwhile  in  the  dying  Chriscian  empire  of  the 
East,  the  Latins  held  Constantinople  witli  Beldwin  on 
the  throne,  but  next  year  the  Greek  army  led  by 
Michael  Paleolofus  crept  through  a  tunnel  and 
managed  to  capture  the  city. 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES  IN  ASIA  19 

wei^Tthf  f*  T.''""*'  »*  Constantinople  m  1260 

certain  Mon^I  ento'  wJ^  !  '■°*'"^"  ""^^  ^'■"' 
court  of  thel  E::ZrK:iZr--T"''"'.'^  *•"= 
said  the  envovs     "  Ti?  '.      *-°"'*  ^"^  «s," 

a  EuropeanTnd  wij  e'S  t  ^  '"  "^^"  ^^- 
jruests "    <;«  tv.    D  ■         ^  '^  *<*  ''^^e  yo«  as  his 

She  envo;'  a  yisT '^'  ""'^^  ^'^"^  -"''-' 
the  court  ofTh;  ^re^t.^  ™'^A""'"  ^^^  ««<^hed 
ceived  Withers  ,S4/^'^-n^  -e  re- 

and'^rs'U^iTetitrof  cf  ^""^^*  ^-  '^'---'^ 

Ta^I^ES-?---- 
the  envoys  upo^ttH^wtf  f^d^St^  *°  "^"^ 

that  tin^eZ  :n;°  cl^L-fn^ ^ "'  ^^^^^  "'^'''^  "^  ^ 
tH'*^t^r%:?£;^^^^-ers..ound 

a.ed  sixteen.  ,,„„,  Marco  p1;:X\^:u.S: 


ao  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

ous,  hardy  lad,  it  seems,  and  very  truthful,  without 
the  slightest  symptoms  of  any  sense  of  humor. 

The  schoolboy  who  defined  the  Vatican  as  a  great 
empty  space  without  air,  was  perfectly  correct,  for 
when  the  Polos  arrived  there  was  a  sort  of  vacuum 
in  Rome,  the  pope  being  dead  and  no  new  appoint- 
ment made  because  the  electors  were  squabbling. 
Two  years  the  envoys  waited,  and  when  at  last  a 
ne\y  pope  was  elected,  he  proved  to  be  a  friend  of 
theirs,  the  legate  Theobald  on  whom  they  waited  at 
the  Christian  fortress  of  Acre  in  Palestine. 

But  instead  of  sending  a  hundred  clergymen  to 
convert  the  Mongol  empire,  the  new  pope  had  only 
one  priest  to  spare,  who  proved  to  be  a  coward,  and 
deserted. 

Empty  handed,  their  mission  a  failure,  the  Polos 
went  back,  a  three  and  one-half  years'  journey  to 
Pekin,  taking  with  them  young  Marco  Polo,  a  hand- 
some gallant,  who  at  once  found  favor  with  old  Ku- 
blai  Khan.  Marco  "  sped  wondrously  in  learning  the 
customs  of  the  Tartars,  as  well  as  their  language, 
their  manner  of  writing,  and  their  practise  of  war .  .  . 
insomuch  that  the  emperor  held  him  in  great  esteem. 
And  so  when  he  discerned  Mark  to  have  so  much 
sense,  and  to  conduct  himself  so  well  and  beseemingly, 
he  sent  him  on  an  embassage  of  his,  to  a  country  which 
was  a  good  six  months'  journey  distant.  The  young 
gallant  executed  his  commission  well  and  with  dis- 
cretion." The  fact  is  that  Kublai's  ambassadors,  re- 
turning from  different  parts  of  the  world,  "  were  able 
to  tell  him  nothing  except  the  business  on  which  they 
had  gone,  and  that  the  prince  in  consequence  held 
them   for  no  better  than   dolts  and   fools."    Mark 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES  IN  ASIA  21 

brought  back  plenty  of  gossip,  and  was  a  great  suc- 
cess,   for   seventeen   years   being   employed   by   the 
emperor  on   all   sorts   of  missions.    "And   thus   it 
came  about  that  Messer  Marco  Polo  had  knowledge 
of  or  had  actually  visited  a  greater  number  of  the 
different  countries  of  the  world  than  any  other  man  " 
In    the    Chinese   annals   of   the    Mongol    dynasty 
there  is  record  in  1277  of  one  Polo  nominated  a  sec- 
ond-class commissioner  or  agent  attached  to  the  privy 
council.    Marco  had  become  a  civil  servant,  and  his 
father  and  uncle  were  both  rich  men,  but  as  the  years 
went  on,  and  the  aged  emperor  began  to  fail    they 
feared  as  to  their  fate  after  his  death.    Yet  when 
they  wanted  to  go  home  old  Kublai  growled  at  them. 
'  Now  it   came  to  pass   in   those   days   that   the 
Queen  Bolgana,  wife  of  Argon,  lord  of  the  Levant 
(court  of  Persia),  departed  this  life.    And  in  her 
will  she  had  desired  that  no  lady  should  take  her 
place,  or  succeed  her  as  Argon's  wife  except  one  of 
her    own    family    (in    Cathay).    Argon    therefore 
despatched    three    of    his    barons  ...  as  ambassa- 
dors to  the  great  khan,  attended  by  a  very  gallant 
company,  in  order  to  bring  back  as  his  bride  a  lady 
of  the  family  of  Queen  Bolgana,  his  late  wife. 

"  When  these  three  barons  had  reached  the  court  of 
the  great  khan,  they  delivered  their  message  explain- 
ing wherefore  they  were  come.  The  khan  received 
them  with  all  honor  and  hospitality,  and  then  sent  for 
a  lady  whose  name  was  Cocachin,  who  was  of  the 
family  of  the  deceased  Queen  Bolgana.  She  was  a 
maiden  of  seventeen,  a  very  beautiful  and  charming 
person,  and  on  her  arrival  at  court  she  was  presented 
to  the  three  barons  as  the  lady  chosen  in  compliance 


33 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


with  their  demand.  They  declared  that  the  ladx 
pleased  them  well. 

"  Meanwhile  Messer  Marco  chanced  to  return  from 
India,  whither  he  had  gone  as  the  lord's  ambassador, 
and  made  his  report  of  all  the  different  things  that 
he  had  seen  in  his  travels,  and  of  the  sundry  seas 
over  which  he  had  voyaged.  And  the  three  barons, 
having  seen  that  Messer  Nicolo,  Messer  Matteo  and 
Messer  Marco  were  not  only  Latins  but  men  of  mar- 
velous good  sense  'withal,  took  thought  among 
themselves  to  get  the  three  to  travel  to  Persia  with 
them,  their  intention  being  to  return  to  their  country 
by  sea,  on  account  of  the  great  fatigue  of  that  long 
land  journey  for  a  lady.  So  they  went  to  the  great 
khan,  and  begged  as  a  favor  that  he  would  send  the 
three  Latins  with  them,  as  it  was  their  desire  to  re- 
turn home  by  sea. 

"  The  lord,  having  that  great  regard  that  I  have 
mentioned  for  those  three  Latins,  was  very  loath  to 
do  so.  But  at  last  he  did  give  them  permission  to 
depart,  enjoining  them  to  accompany  the  three  barons 
and  the  lady." 

In  the  fleet  that  sailed  on  the  two  years'  voyage 
to  Persia  there  were  six  hundred  persons,  not  count- 
ing mariners;  but  what  with  sickness  and  little  ac- 
cidents of  travel,  storms  for  instance  and  sharks, 
only  eight  persons  arrived,  including  the  lady,  one  of 
the  Persian  barons,  and  the  three  Italians.  They 
found  the  handsome  King  Argon  dead,  so  the  lady 
had  to  B.ut  up  with  his  insignificant  son  Casan,  who 
turned  out  to  be  a  first-rate  king.  The  lady  wept 
sore  at  parting  with  the  Italians.    They  set  out  for 


THE  vflDDLE  AGES  IN  ASIA  23 

Venice,  arriving  in  1235  after  an  absence  of  twenty- 
seven  yeais,  ' 

There  is  a  legend  that  two  aged  men,  and  one  of 
middle  age  m  ragged  clothes,  of  very  strange  device, 
came  Icnoclcng  at  the  door  of  the  Polo's  toln  hous^ 

1^'Z''  '?  J'"'  ''""''''  '"^'^''°"  ^y  the  family 
who  did  not  know  them.  It  was  only  when  the 
travelers  had  unpacked  their  luggage,  and  given  a 
banquet,  that  the  family  and  th^'giests  bS  to 
respect  these  vagrants.    Three  times  during  dinner 

oLsTor  .V""'V'  "^'^"^"^  *"^  gorgeous  oriental 
tw  i  ,  '?  '*'"  ""'^  'P^^'"^'^-  Was  it  possible 
that  the  long  dead  Polos  had  returned  alive?  Then 
the  tables  bemg  cleared.  Marco  brought  forth  the 
toy   ragged   clothes   in   which   they   had   come   to 

s^amr'an^H  ^'u  ''"''^  ''"'^"  ^^^  ">?*«'  °P«"  *« 
seams    and    welts,    pourmg   out    vast    numbers    of 

rub.es  sapphires,  carbuncles,  diamonds  and  emeralds, 
gems  to  the  value  of  a  million  ducats.  The  family 
was  entirely  convinced,  the  public  nicknamed  the 
travelers  as  the  millionaires,  the  city  conferred  dig- 
nities, and  the  two  elder  gentlemen  spent  their  ri 

hoTs' o'f  S;" '"" '"'  ^•"^"''°'  ^"--"^-^  ^y 

thItZ'Tr  ''*''  '  r^'"'"'*  ''^^  ^'^"eht  between 
tte  fleets  of  Genoa  and  Venice,  and  in  the  Venetian 

mo.  There  Venice  was  totally  defeated,  and  Marco 
was  one  of  the  seven  thousand  prisoners  carried  home 
to  grace  the  triumph  of  the  Genoese.    It  was  in 

he  dictated  his  book,  not  of  travel,  not  of  adventure. 


94  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

but  a  geography,  a  deKription  of  all  Asia,  its  coun- 
tries, peoples  and  wonders.  Sometimes  he  got  ex- 
cited and  would  draw  the  long  bow,  expanding  the 
numbers  of  the  great  khan's  armies.  Sometimes  his 
marvels  were  such  as  nobody  in  his  senses  could  be 
expected  to  swallow,  as  for  instance,  when  he  spoke 
of  the  Tartars  as  burning  black  stones  to  keep  them 
warm  in  winter.  Yet  on  the  whole  this  book,  of  the 
greatest  traveler  that  ever  lived,  awakened  Europe 
of  the  Dtrk  Ages  to  the  knowledge  of  that  vast  outer 
world  thai  has  mainly  become  the  heritage  of  the 
Christian  Powers. 

See  die  Book  of  Sir  Marco  Polo,  tranilated  and  edited  bjr 
Colonel  Sir  Henry  Yule.    John  Murray. 


IV 


A.  D. 


1333 


THE    MARVELOUS    ADVENTURES    OF    SIR 
JOHN  MAUNDEVILLE 

«T  JOHN  MAUNDEVILLE,  Knight,  all  be  it  I 
■»»  am  not  worthy,  that  was  born  in  England,  in  the 
town  of  St.  Allans,  passed  the  sea  in  the  year  of  our 
L^rd  1322  .  and  hitherto  have  been  long  time  on 
the  sea,  and  have  seen  and  gone  through  many  diverse 

SrLkf^ir    "^  "'"•"'"^  **'  '"''"^  ""'"^   "^^ 
So    wrote  a  very  gentle  and  pious  knight.    His 
book  of  travels  begins   with   the  journey  to  Con- 
stantmople,  which  in  his  day  was  the  seat  of  a  Chris- 
tian    emperor.    Beyond    was    the    Saracen    empire 
whose  sultans  reigned  in  the  name  of  the  Prophet' 
Mahomet  over  Asia  Minor,   Syria,  the  Holy  Land 
and  Egypt.     For  three  hundred  years  aristian  and 
Saracen  had  fought  for  the  possession  of  Jerusalem, 
but  now  the  Moslem  power  was  stronger  than  ever. 
Sir  John  Maundeville  found  the  sultan  of  Babylon 
the  Less  at  his  capital  city  in  Egypt,  and  there  entered 
m  his  service  as  a  soldier  for  wars  against  the  Arab 
tribes  of  the  desert.    The  sultan  grew  to  love  this 
Englishman,  talked  with  him  of  aflfairs  in  Europe 
urged  hmi  to  turn  Moslem,  and  offered  to  him  the 
»5 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


hand  of  a  princess  in  marriage.  But  when  Maunde- 
ville  insisted  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land,  his 
master  let  him  go,  and  granted  him  letters  with  the 
great  seal,  before  which  even  generals  and  governors 
were  obliged  to  prostrate  themselves. 

Sir  John  went  all  over  Palestine,  devoutly  believing 
everything  he  was  told.  Here  is  his  story  of  the 
Field  Beflowered.  "  For  a  fair  maiden  was  blamed 
with  wrong,  and  slandered  ...  for  which  cause  she 
was  condemned  to  death,  and  to  be  burnt  in  that  place, 
to  the  which  she  was  led.  And  as  the  fire  began  to 
burn  about  her,  she  made  her  prayers  to  our  Lord, 
that  as  certainly  as  she  was  not  guilty  of  that  sin,  that 
he  would  help  her,  and  make  it  to  be  known  to  all 
men  of  his  merciful  grace.  And  when  she  had  thus 
said  she  entered  into  the  fire,  and  anon  was  the  fire 
quenched  and  out ;  and  the  brands  which  were  burning 
became  red  rose  trees,  and  the  brands  that  were  not 
kindled  became  white  rose  trees  full  of  roses.  And 
these  were  the  first  rose  trees  and  roses,  both  white 
and  red,  which  ever  any  man  saw." 

All  this  part  of  his  book  is  very  beautiful  concern- 
ing the  holy  places,  and  there  are  nice  bits  about  incu- 
bators for  chickens  and  the  use  of  carrier  pigeons. 
But  it  is  in  the  regions  beyond  the  Holy  Land  that 
Sir  John's  wonderful  power  of  believing  everything 
that  he  had  heard  makes  his  chapters  more  and  more 
exciting. 

"  In  Ethiopia  .  .  .  there  be  folk  that  have  but  one 
foot  and  they  go  so  fast  that  it  is  a  marvel.  And  the 
foot  is  so  large  that  it  shadoweth  all  the  body  against 
the  sun  when  they  will  lie  and  rest  them." 

Beyond  that  was  the  isle  of  Nacumera,  where  all 


ADVENTURES  OF 


MAUNDEVILLE 
ds,  being  reasonable 


*7 


the  people  have  hounds' 

for  their  god.    And  they  all  go  naked  save  a  litUe 

eat  him.    The  dog-headed  king  of  that  land  is  most 

Sc7^t  '""''*'  "'''"'  "^  *'^  °^  «?'»'=« 

Next  he  came  to  Ceylon.    "In  that  land  is  full 

of  cockodr.ll,.  ,0  that  no  man  may  dwell  there. 

rants  And  they  be  hideous  to  look  upon.  And  they 
have  but  one  eye.  and  that  is  in  the  middle  of  the 
«w  fish  a1  •"'"  '''  "°"""«  •""'  --  ««h\nd' 
dwel,  i  „1"?  ',"  ''"°"'"  "'«  t°*-ds  the  south 
dwell  folk  of  foul  stature  and  of  cursed  nature  that 
have  no  heads.    And  their  eyes  be  in  their  shoulders 

^IdstTheT?'  T  ^r/"'''^"'  '"'«  »"  "--h- 
am  dst  their  breasts.    And  in  another  isle  he  n,  J 

without  heads,  and  their  eyes  and  mouths  S  beHnd  " 

their  shoulders.    And  in  another  isle  be  folk  that 

have  the  face  all  flat,  all  plain,  without  nose  a^d  whh 

ou   mouth     But  they  have  two  small  holes  aU  round 

IS  1*1  r  •  ^"'  *''' '"-»"  ^^  ^^'^i 

without  hps.  And  m  another  isle  be  folk  of  foul 
fashion  and  shape  that  have  the  lip  above  the  Louth 
so  great  that  when  they  sleep  in  the  sun  thereover  I! 
the  face  with  that  lip." 

JJ  f"  J°''"  ''*<*  ^^"  untruthful  he  might  have  been 

theHn  V  Q  •  .  '  '"  P"''''"^  ^'■"'  "^  f«^  t«ts  from 
5is^hlnf"'P'"'''  "^  '^''P'""^  ''•^  «"'i'«  disapprova? 
His  chapters  on  :       ^hinese  empire  are  a  perfect 


i' 


a8  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

model  of  veracity,  and  he  merely  cocks  on  a  few 
noughts  to  the  statistics.  In  outlying  parts  of  Cathay 
he  feels  once  more  the  need  of  a  little  self-indulgence. 
One  province  is  covered  with  total  and  everlasting 
darkness,  enlivened  by  the  neighing  of  unseen  horses 
and  the  crowing  of  mysterious  cocks.  In  the  next 
province  he  fotmd  a  fruit,  which,  when  ripe,  is  cut 
open,  disclosing  "  a  little  beast  in  flesh  and  bone  and 
blood,  as  though  it  were  a  little  lamb  without  wool. 
And  men  eat  both  the  fruit  and  the  beast.  And  that 
is  a  great  marvel.  O^  that  fruit  have  I  eaten,  al- 
though it  were  wonderful,  but  that  I  know  well  that 
God  is  marvelous  in  all  his  works.  And  neverthe- 
less I  told  them  of  as  great  a  marvel  to  them,  that  is 
amongst  us,  and  that  was  of  the  barnacle  geese:  for 
I  told  them  that  in  our  country  were  trees  that  bear  a 
fruit  that  become  birds  flying,  and  those  that  fall  on 
the  water  live,  and  they  that  fall  on  the  earth  die  anon, 
and  they  be  right  good  to  man's  meat,  and  thereof 
had  they  so  great  marvel  that  some  of  them  trowed 
it  were  an  impossible  thing  to  be." 

This  mean  doubt  as  to  his  veracity  must  have  cut 
poor  Maundeville  to  the  quick.  In  his  earnest  way 
he  goes  on  to  describe  the  people  who  live  entirely  on 
the  smell  of  wild  apples,  to  the  Amazon  nation  con- 
sisting solely  of  women  warriors,  and  so  on  past  many 
griffins,  popinjays,  dragons  und  other  wild  fowl  to  the 
Adamant  Rocks  of  loads'ione  which  draw  all  the  iron 
nails  out  of  a  .'hip  to  her  great  inconvenience.  "  I 
myself,  have  seen  afar  off  in  that  sea,  as  though  it 
had  been  a  great  isle  full  of  trees  and  bush,  full 
of  thorns  and  briers  great  plenty.  And  the  ship- 
men  told  us  that  all  that  was  of  ships  that  were 


ADVENTURES  OF  MAUNDEVILLE      29 

drawn  thither  by  the  Adamants,  for  the  iron  that 
was  in  them."  Beyond  that  Sir  John  reports  a 
sea  consisting  of  gravel,  ebbing  and  flowing  in  great 
waves,  but  containing  no  drop  of  water,  a  most  awk- 
ward place  for  shipping. 

So  far  is  Sir  John  moderate  in  his  statements,  but 
when  he  gets  to  the  Vale  Perilous  at  last  he  turns  him- 
self loose.  That  vale  is  disturbed  by  thunders  and 
tempests,  murmurs  and  noises,  a  great  noise  of  "  ta- 
bors, drums  and  trumps."  This  vale  is  all  full  of 
devils,  and  hath  been  alway.  In  that  vale  is  great 
plenty  of  gold  and  silver. 

"Wherefore  many  misbelieving  men  and  many 
Christian  men  also  go  in  oftentime  to  have  of  the 
treasure  that  there  is;  but  few  come  back  again,  and 
especially  of  the  misbelieving  men,  nor  of  the  Chris- 
tian men  either,  for  they  be  anon  strangled  of  devils. 
And  in  the  mid  place  of  that  vale,  under  a  rock,  is  an 
head  and  the  visage  of  a  devil  bodily,  full  horrible  and 
dreadful  to  see  .  .  .  for  he  beholdeth  every  man  so 
sharply  with  dreadful  eyes,  that  be  evermore  moving 
and  sparkling  like  fire,  and  changeth  and  stareth  so 
often  in  diverse  manner,  with  so  horrible  countenance 
that  no  man  dare  draw  nigh  towards  him.  And  from 
him  Cometh  sraoke  and  stink  and  fire,  and  so  much 
abwnination,  that  scarcely  any  man  may  there  endure. 

"And  ye  shall  understand  that  when  my  fellows 
and  1  were  in  that  vale  we  were  in  great  thought 
whether  we  durst  put  our  bodies  in  adventure  to  go 
in  or  not.  ...  So  there  were  with  us  two  worthy 
men,  friars  minors,  that  were  of  Lombardy,  that  said 
that  if  any  man  would  enter  they  would  go  in  with 
us.    And  when  they  had  said  so  upon  the  gracious 


30  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

trust  of  God  and  of  them,  we  made  sing  mass,  and 
made  every  man  to  be  shriven  and  houseled.  And 
then  we  entered  fourteen  persons;  but  at  our  going 
out  we  were  only  nine.  .  .  .  And  Uius  we  passed  that 
perilous  vale,  and  found  therein  gold  and  silver  and 
precious  stones,  and  rich  jewels  great  plenty  ...  but 
whether  it  was  as  it  seemed  to  us  I  wot  never.  For  I 
touched  none.  .  .  .  For  I  was  more  devout  then, 
than  ever  I  was  before  or  after,  and  all  for  the  dread 
of  fiends,  that  I  saw  in  diverse  figures,  and  also  for 
the  great  multitude  of  dead  budies,  that  I  saw  there 
lying  by  the  way  .  .  .  and  therefore  were  we  more 
devout  a  great  deal,  and  yet  we  were  cast  down  and 
beaten  many  times  to  the  hard  earth  by  winds,  thunder 
and  tempests  .  .  .  and  so  we  passed  that  perilous 
vale.  .  .  .    Thanked  be  Almighty  God  I 

"  After  this  beyond  the  vale  is  a  great  isle  where 
the  folk  be  great  giants  .  .  .  and  in  an  isle  beyond 
that  were  giants  of  greater  stature,  some  of  forty- 
five  foot  or  fifty  foot  long,  and  as  some  men  say  of 
fifty  cubits  long.  But  I  saw  none  of  these,  for  I 
had  no  lust  to  go  to  those  parts,  because  no  man 
Cometh  neither  into  that  isle  nor  into  the  other  but 
he  be  devoured  anon.  And  among  these  giants  be 
sheep  as  great  as  oxen  here,  and  they  bear  great 
wool  and  rough.  Of  the  sheep  I  have  seen  many 
times  .  .  .  those  giants  take  men  in  the  sea  out  of 
their  ships  and  bring  them  to  land,  two  in  one  hand 
and  two  in  another,  eating  them  going,  all  raw  and 
all  alive. 

"  Of  paradise  can  not  I  speak  properly,  for  I  was 
not  there.  It  is  far  beyond.  And  that  grieveth  me. 
And  also  I  was  not  worthy." 


ADVENTURES  OF  MAUNDEVILLE      3, 

where  he  claims  OiatthTL       I  ''°'°«^afd  to  Rome, 

sins,  and  ^aT  £'^eeSt°tS\''^^u^" ''•' 
proved  for  true  in  ev,rv  ^-  .  *'  ""^  ^^ol^  was 
»>en  list  no  To  rive  cr^He  ?'"■■•  """^■^  "«*  "a-y 
that  they  have  sf  e^  S T  '"^.'"■"«^  •""'  '<>  "-at 
the  person  neve  so  ^*. ''^^.7;  ^.^  *\«  author  or 
doubts  as  to  its  veSL  M  f'f "  *"*  ""^'"^^ 
after  five  hundred  yLrf  ;nfr""f '"'"='  ^"^  «^« 
Pendous  «aste^ieceTi:"it7f'j^;.^^  --'  ^'- 


'A.  D.  1492 
COLUMBUS 

COLUMBUS  wai  blue-eyed,  red-haired  and  tall, 
of  a  sunny  honesty,  humane  and  panic-proof. 
In  other  words  he  came  of  the  Baltic  and  not  of  the 
Mediterranean  stock,  although  his  people  lived  in  Italy 
and  he  was  bom  in  the  suburbs  of  Genoa.  By  caste 
he  was  a  peasant,  and  by  trade,  up  to  the  age  of 
twenty-eight,  a  weaver,  except  at  times  when  his 
Northern  blood  broke  loose  and  drove  Jiiui  to  sea  for 
a  voyage.  He  made  himself  a  scholar  and  a  drafts- 
man, and  when  at  last  he  escaped  from  ai.  exacting 
family,  he  earned  his  living  by  copying  charts  at  Lis- 
bon. A  year  later,  as  a  navigating  officer,  he  found 
his  way,  via  the  wine  trade,  to  Bristol.  There  he 
slouched  dreaming  about  the  slums,  dressed  like  a 
foreign  monk.  He  must  needs  pose  to  himself  in 
some  ideal  character,  and  was  bound  to  dress  the  part. 
The  artistic  temperament  is  the  mainspring  of  ad- 
venture. 

In  our  own  day  we  may  compare  Boston,  that  grand 

old  home  of  the  dying  sailing  ship,  with  New  York,  a 

bustling  metropolis  for  the  steam  liners.    In  the  days 

of  Columbus  Genoa  was  an  old-fashioned,  declining, 

3» 


COLUMBUS 


Middle  Ages,  of  the  slot  th^'  ,°^  ^"«'*"'^'  '"  *e 
English.  Th^y  were  h«,T;-  ^'^'  '"^^^^'  '^*'^y 
Saint  Ma^  RTdcSa^weTff  tLKd  ^"  ''^^ 

Tile  (STiiri"/';;  V  *'  ^^'-'^  of 

this  island  which  L:f,L«ar?nlHr."'  ^""^  '«> 

in?ir!4?',^,*'J-;;  «^  "-elf  that 

Atlantic,  he  aL^Iy  vi'^T  *«  refe.ons  beyond  the 
•elf.  he  was  aWe  1  ^"^^'^^^    ^  ^^olar  him- 

Janders  in  Ut^thl  tZT  "'*,  *'  '''^^^^  !<=- 
them  he  sure  y 'm„st  w ^^  °'  *'*  ««»•  ^rom 
thirty  years  iX  last  it""".  ■''7  °"^  '"««'"'' 
from  Nova  Scotia  L^  '""P-  '""'  '°'"'  ^°^^ 
Within  his  0^  EfrtW  /^^'l^-^-'e  years  since, 
dosed.  TheZsofr'  *•!% ^/eenland  trade  had 
coast  as  far^th  *  r"' ^'r  "^ '''' ^"'--" 
^e^^Phy  boo.  wt  ^J.;  C'"^-*"'  -ent 

a.  fa^'^th':Te:en'rS"''>,^  ^°"""^  ^'-'^"es 
land  begins     Fr^  ,^  "?  '"*''"  °°«''  ""til  Green- 


34 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


(Nova  Scotia) ;  thence  it  is  not  far  from  Vinland 
(New  England),  which  some  believe  goes  out  from 
Africa.  England  and  Scotland  are  one  island,  yet 
each  country  is  a  kingdom  by  itself.  Ireland  is  a 
large  island,  Iceland  is  also  a  large  island  north  of 
Ireland."  Indeed  Columbus  seems  almost  to  be 
quoting  this  from  memory  when  he  says  of  Iceland, 
"this  island,  which  is  as  large  as  England."  I 
strongly  suspect  that  Columbus  when  in  Iceland,  took 
a  solemn  oath  not  to*  "  discover  "  America. 

The  writers  of  books  have  spent  four  centuries  in 
whitew,:shing,  retouching,  dressing  up  and  posing  this 
figure  of  Columbus.  The  navigator  was  indeed  a  man 
of  powerful  intellect  and  of  noble  character,  but  they 
have  made  him  seem  a  monumental  prig  as  well  as  an 
insufferable  bore.  He  is  the  dead  and  helpless  victim, 
dehumanized  by  literary  art  until  we  feel  that  we 
really  ought  to  pray  for  him  on  All  Prigs'  Day  in  the 
churches. 

Columbus  came  home  from  his  Icelandic  and  Guinea 
expeditions  with  two  perfectly  sound  ideas.  "  The 
world  is  a  globe,  so  if  I  sail  westerly  I  shall  find 
Japan  and  the  Indies."  For  fifteen  bitter  years  he  be- 
came the  laughing-stock  of  Europe. 

Now  note  how  the  historians,  the  biographers  and 
the  commentators,  the  ponderous  and  the  mawkish, 
the  smug  and  the  pedar.tic  alike  all  fail  to  see  why 
their  hero  was  laughed  at.  His  name  was  Cristo-fero 
Colombo,  to  us  a  good  enough  label  for  tying  to  any 
man,  but  to  the  Italians  and  all  educated  persons  of 
that  age,  a  joke.  The  words  mean  literal!,  the  Christ- 
Carrying  Dove.  Suppose  a  modern  man  with  some 
invention  or  a  great  idea,  called  himself  Mr.  Christ- 


COLUMBUS 


35 


Carrying  Dove,  and  tried  to  get  capitalists  in  New 
York  or  London  to  finance  his  enterprise  I  In  the  end 
he  changed  his  name  to  Cristoval  Colon  and  got  him- 
self financed,  but  by  that  time  his  hair  was  white,  and 
his  nerve  was  gone,  and  his  health  failing. 

In  the  ninth  century  the  vikings  sailed  from  Nor- 
way by  the  great  circle  course  north  of  the  gulf 
stream.  They  had  no  compass  or  any  instruments  of 
navigation,  and  they  braved  the  unknown  currents,  the 
uncharted  reefs,  the  unspeakable  terrors  of  pack-ice, 
berg-streams  and  fog  on  Greenland's  awful  coast. 
They  made  no  fuss. 

But  Columbus  sailing  in  search  of  Japan,  had  one 
Englishman  and  one  Irishman,  the  rest  of  the  people 
being  a  pack  of  dagoes.  In  lovely  weather  they  were 
ready  to  run  away  from  their  own  shadows. 

From  here  onward  throughout  the  four  voyages 
which  disclosed  the  West  Indies  and  the  Spanish  Main, 
Columbus  allowed  his  men  to  shirk  their  duties,  to 
disobey  his  orders,  to  mutiny,  to  desert  and  even  to 
make  war  upon  him. 

Between  voyages  he  permitted  everybody  from  the 
mean  king  downward,  to  snub,  swindle,  plunder  and 
defame  himself  and  all  who  were  loyal  to  him  in  mis- 
fortune. Because  Columbus  behaved  like  an  old 
woman,  his  swindling  pork  contractor,  Amerigo  Ves- 
pucci, was  allowed  to  give  his  name  to  the  Americas. 
Because  he  had  not  the  manhood  to  command,  the  hap- 
less red  Indians  were  outraged,  enslaved  and  driven 
to  wholesale  suicide,  leaping  in  thousands  from  the 
cliffs.  For  lack  of  a  master  the  Spaniards  performed 
such  prodigies  of  cowardice  and  cruelty  as  the  world 
has  never  known  before  or  since,  the  native  races  were 


''W\ 


3fi  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTXmE 

swept  out  of  existence,  and  Spain  set  out  upon  a  down- 
ward path,  a  moral  lapse  beyond  all  human  power  to 
arrest. 

Yet  looking  back,  how  wonderful  is  the  prophecy  in 
that  name,  Christ-Carrying  Dove,  borne  by  a  saintly 
and  heroic  seaman  whose  mission,  in  the  end,  added 
two  continents  to  Christianity. 

ThU  text  mainly  contradicU  a  Life  of  Cohmbut.  bj 
Qeroenta  R.  Markham,  C  J.    Phillip  &  Son,  iSgs. 


Ambkici's  Vesplxcjus 


VI 

A.  D.  1519 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO 

"LJERNANDO  CORTES  .pent  «,  idle  «,d  un- 

*  ■■■  profitable  youth." 
iJH^  I-    And  every  other  duffer  U  with  me  in 

W^  not  the  good  boys,  need  a  little  encouragement. 

Indie*.    That  wa.  a  time  when  boys  hurried  to  get 

vZh  11  ^'^J"^  **  '*"*  **"  »»'«  Fountain  of 
Youth  the  tnul  to  Eldorado.  AH  who  had  time  to 
weep  dreamed  tremendous  dreams. 

Cortes  became  a  colonist  in  Cuba,  a  sore  puzzle  to 
tf«  ra^  in  command  When  he  dapped  Cortes  in 
"*M  the  youngster  slipped  free  and  defied  him. 
When  he  gave  Cortes  command  of  an  expedition  the 

SL?^'^'"";  When  he  tried  to  arr^  him  the 
bird  had  flown,  and  was  declared  an  outlaw 

hor^iln't"*^?  "!^  '**"•"  °*  **  "P**''*^'  ^«« 
horrified  by  this  adventurer  who  landed  them  in  newly 

wish  to  go  home.  They  stood  in  the  deadly  mists  of 
Ae  ^opic  plains,  ,«d  far  above  them  glow^  the  Star 
of  the  Sea.  white  Orizaba  crowned  with  polar  snows. 
Tliey  marched  up  a  hill  a  mile  and  a  hklf  i„  ^ee^ 

37 


38  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

height  through  many  zones  of  climate,  and  every  cir- 
cumstance  of  pam  and  famine  to  the  edge  of  a  plateau 
cn>wned  by  immense  volcanoes,  a  land  of  XT 

t^^i!-  ^'"'^'  '""  °'  °P"'*"'  "«"•  They  found 
that  this  realm  was  ruled  by  an  emperor,  famous  for 
h>s  victorious  wars,  able,  it  seemed,  to  place  a  mill  on 
wamors  m  «,e  field,  and  hung:^  for  captives  to  be 
first  sacrificed  to  the  gods,  and  afterward  eaten  at  the 
banquets  of  the  nobility  and  gentry.  The  temp « 
were  actually  fed  with  twenty  thousand  victims  a^ 
The  S^msh  mvading  force  of  four  hundred  men  be- 
gan  to  feel  uncomfortable. 

hoSeH  'u-'  ^°""  P""'''d  *e  governor  of  Cuba,  and 

Eo  from  t?      "T"  '^  "  ''''"^'  ^'^'^  ^"'^  to 
taught  the  people  the  arts  of  civilized  life     Then 

Sfulld't^  '"'  'r "^  "°^"'"''*'  *«  fields  we" 
fruitful  and  the  sun  shone  in  glory  upon  that  plateau 
of  eternal  sprmg.    The  hero.  Bird-Serpent    was  re 
membered,  loved  and  worshiped  as  aTod     It  w  s' 

etr  «""  T*  "'^*  ^^  ''  "^^  «-«  «'-'>  •"  o  ^ 
eastern  sea  so  he  would  return  again  in  later  aees 

Now   he  prophecy  was  fulfilled.    He  had  come  v^th 

his  followers,  all  bearded  white  men  out  of  the  eastet 

sea  m  mysterious  winged  vessels.    Bird-Serpem  ^™ 

h.s   people   were   dressed   in   gleaming  armo"   S 

t"rX"l    f   "^'u'"   "^''^'"^-   -e«  counted   on 
terrible  beasts  -  where  steel  and  guns  and  horses  were 

unloiown;  and  Montezuma  felt  as  we  should  do  f  our 

and  were  invaded  by  winged  men  riding  dragons     To 

the  supernatural  visitors  the  emperor' sent^^bas^ 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO  39 

after  embassy,  loaded  with  treasure,  begging  the  hero 

not  to  approach  his  capital.  '=Sgmg  the  htro 

Set  in  the  midst  of  Montezuma's  empire  was  the 

poor  vahant  republic  of  Tlascala,  at  eveXt^war 

they  were   hult,\         J"S^^^^^^^^^^^  -^  -"en 

grander  than  Venice  n^th^  '!'  /  T'  ""^'P'  *^"" 
and  numberless  moun^  *  .  ^"^^^  ""''  S^"^^'' 
lighted  thet:„Tnir?hrer  °"  ''™"^  ^'*»" 
the  lake  and  met  fust  as  hev  So  ^  T"^'''  ""''^'^ 
square     Her^  nn T    •!     !^    °  *°"^*y  ^t  the  central 

-e  of  the  JeTtes^oTth   '''  T"'  '•"'"^'  ^^"^ 


.e  1 1 


40 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


tained  the  Spaniards.  The  white  men  were  astonished 
at  the  zoological  gardens,  the  aviary,  the  floating 
market  gardens  on  the  lake,  the  cleanliness  of  the 
streets,  kept  by  a  thousand  sweepers,  and  a  metro- 
politan police  which  numbered  ten  thousand  men, 
arrangements  far  in  advance  of  any  city  of  Europe. 
Then,  as  now,  the  place  was  a  great  and  brilliant 
capital 

Yet  from  the  Spanish  point  of  view  these  Aztecs 
were  only  barbarians  to  be  conquered,  and  heathen 
cannibals  doomed  to  hell  unless  they  accepted  the 
faith.  To  them  the  Cholula  massacre  was  only  a  mili- 
tary precaution.  They  thought  it  right  to  seize  their 
generous  host  the  emperor,  to  hold  him  as  a  prisoner 
under  guard,  and  one  day  even  to  put  him  in  irons. 
For  six  months  Montezuma  reigned  under  Spanish 
orders,  overwhelmed  with  shame.  He  loved  his  cap- 
tors because  they  were  gallant  gentlemen,  he  freely 
gave  them  his  royal  treasure  of  gems,  and  gold,  and 
brilliant  feather  robes.  Over  the  plunder— a  million 
and  a  half  sterling  in  gold  alone — they  squabbled; 
clear  proof  to  Montezuma  that  they  were  not  all  di- 
vine. Yet  still  they  were  friends,  so  he  gave  them  all 
the  spears  and  bows  from  his  arsenal  as  fuel  to  bum 
some  of  his  nobles  who  had  affronted  them. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  hostile  governor  of  Cuba 
sent  Narvaes  with  seventeen  ships  and  a  strong  force 
to  arrest  the  conqueror  for  rebellion.  The  odds  were 
only  three  to  one,  instead  of  the  usual  hundred  to  one 
against  him,  so  Cortes  went  down  to  the  coast,  gave 
Narvaes  a  thrashing,  captured  him,  enrolled  his  men 
by  way  of  reinforcements,  and  returned  with  a  force 
of  eleven  hundred  troops. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO  41 

He  had  left  his  friend,  Alvarado,  with  a  hundred 
men  to  hold  the  capital  and  guard  the  emperor.    This 
Alvarado,  so  fair  that  the  natives  called  him  Child  of 
the  Sun,  was  such  a  fool  that  he  massacred   six 
hundred  unarmed  nobles  and  gentlefolk   for  being 
pagans,  violated  the  great  temple,  and  so  aroused  the 
whole  power  of  the  fiercest  nation  on  earth  to  a  war  of 
vengeance.    Barely  in  time  to  save  Alvarado,  COrtes 
reentered  the  city  to  be  besieged.    Again  and  again 
the  Aztecs  attempted  to  storm  the  palace.    The  em- 
peror in  his  robes  of  state  addressed  them  from  the 
ramparts,  and  they  shot  him.    They  seized  the  great 
temple   which   overlooked  the  palace,   and   this   the 
Spaniards  stormed.    In  face  of  awful  losses  day  by 
day  the  Spaniards,  starving  and  desperate,  cleared  a 
road  through  the  city,  and  on  the  night  of  Monte- 
zuma's death  they  attempted  to  retreat  by  one  of  the 
causeways  leading  to  the  mainland.    Three  canals  cut 
this  road,  and  the  drawbridges  had  been  taken  away, 
but  Cortes  brought  a  portable  bridge  to  span  them. 
They  crossed  the  first  as  the  gigantic  sobbing  gong 
upon  the  heights  of  the  temple  aroused  the  entire  city 
Heavily  beset  from  the  rear,  and  by  thousands  of 
men  m  canoes,  they  found  that  the  weight  of  their 
transport  had  jammed  the  bridge  which  could  not  be 
removed.    They  filled  the  second  gap  with  rocks,  with 
thetr  artillery  and  transport,  with  chests  of  gold  horses 
and  dead  men.    So  they  came  to  the  third  gap.  no' 
longer  an  army  but  as  a  flying  mob  of  Spaniards  and 
Tlascalan  warriors  bewildered  in  the  rain  and  the  dark- 
ness by  the  headlong  desperation  of  the  attacking  host 
They  were  compelled  to  swim,  and  at  least  fifty  of  the 
recrujts  were  drowned  by  the  weight  of  gold  they  re- 


42 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


fused  to  leave,  while  many  were  captured  to  be  sacri- 
ficed upon  the  Aztec  altars.  Montezuma's  children 
were  drowned,  and  hundreds  more,  while  Cortes  and 
his  cavaliers,  swimming  their  horses  back  and  forth 
convoyed  the  column,  and  Alvarado  with  his  rear 
guard  held  the  causeway. 

Last  in  the  retreat,  grounding  his  spear  butt,  he 
leaped  the  chasm,  a  feat  of  daring  which  has  given  a 
name  forever  to  this  place  as  Alvarado's  I^eap.  And 
just  beyond,  upon  I  he  mainland  there  is  an  ancient  tree 
beneath  which  Cortes,  a»  the  dawn  broke  out,  sat  on 
the  ground  and  cried.  He  had  lost  four  hundred 
fifty  Spaniards,  and  thousands  of  Tlascalans,  his 
records,  artillery,  muskets,  stores  and  treasure  in  that 
lost  battle  of  the  Dreadful  Night. 

A  week  later  the  starved  and  wounded  force  was 
beset  by  an  army  of  two  hundred  thousand  Aztecs. 
They  had  only  their  swords  now,  but,  after  kmg  hours 
of  fighting,  Cortes  himself  killed  the  Aztec  general,  so 
by  his  matchless  valor  and  leadership  gaining  a  vic- 
tory. 

The  rest  is  a  talc  of  horror  beyond  telling,  for, 
rested  and  reinforced,  the  Spaniards  went  back.  They 
invested,  besiq^ed,  stormed  and  burned  the  famine- 
stricken,  pestilence-ridden  capital,  a  dly  choked  and 
heaped  with  the  unburied  dead  of  a  most  valiant 
nation. 

Afterward,  under  the  Spanish  viceroys,  Mexico 
was  extended  and  enlarged  to  the  edge  of  Alaska,  a 
Christian  civilized  state  renowned  for  mighty  works 
of  engineering,  the  splendor  of  her  architecture,  and 
for  such  inventions  as  the  national  pawn-shop,  as  a 
bank  to  help  the  poor.    One  of  the  so-called  native 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO 


43 


slaves"  of  the  mines  once  wrote  to  the  king  of 
Spain,  begging  his  majesty  to  visit  Mexico  and  oflFer- 
ing  to  make  a  royal  road  for  him,  paving  the  two 
hundred  fifty  miles  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  capital 
with  ingots  of  pure  silver  as  a  gift  to  Spain. 


k^i 


VII 


A.  D. 


»532 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU 

piZARRO  was  reared  for  a  swineherd ;  long  years 
*  of  soldiering  mad^  him  no  more  than  a  captain, 
and  when  at  the  age  of  fifty  he  turned  explorer,  he 
discovered  nothing  but  failure. 

For  seven  years  he  and  his  followers  suffered  on 
trails  beset  by  snakes  and  alligators,  in  feverish  jungles 
haunted  by  man-eating  savages,  to  be  thrown  at  last 
battered,  ragged  and  starving  on  the  Isle  of  Hell. 
Then  a  ship  offered  them  passage,  but  old  Pirarro  drew 
a  line  in  the  dust  with  his  sword.  "  Friends,"  said  he, 
"  and  comrades,  on  that  side  are  toil,  hunger,  naked- 
ness, the  drenching  storm,  desertion  and  death ;  on 
this  side  ease  and  pleasure.  There  lies  Peru  with  its 
riches;  here  Panama  and  its  poverty.  Choose  each 
man,  what  best  becomes  a  brave  Castilian.  For  my 
part,  I  go  to  the  south." 

Thirteen  of  all  his  people  crossed  the  line  with 
Pizarro,  the  rest  deserting  him,  and  he  was  seven 
months  marooned  on  his  desert  isle  in  the  Pacific 
When  the  explorer's  partners  at  last  were  able  to  send 
a  ship  from  Panama,  it  brought  him  orders  to  return,  a 
failure.  He  did  not  return  but  took  the  ship  to  the 
44 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU  4$ 

southward,  his  guide  the  great  white  Andes,  along  a 
coast  no  longer  of  horrible  swamps  but  now  more 
populous,  more  civilized  than  Spain,  by  hundreds  of 
miles  on  end  of  well-tilled  farms,  fair  villages  and 
rich  cities  where  the  temples  were  sheathed  with  plates 
of  pure  red  gold.  As  in  the  Mexico  of  eight  years 
ago,  the  Spaniards  were  welcomed  as  superhuman, 
their  ship,  their  battered  armor  and  their  muskets 
accounted  as  possessions  of  strayed  gods.  They  dined 
in  the  palaces  of  courtly  nobles,  rested  in  gardens 
curiously  enriched  with  foliage  and  flowers  of  beaten 
gold  and  silver,  and  found  native  gentlemen  eager  to 
join  them  in  tlieir  ship  as  guests.  So  with  a  shipload 
of  wonders  to  illustrate  this  discovery  they  went  back 
to  Panama,  and  Pizarro  r<:tumed  home  to  seek  in 
Spain  the  help  of  Charles  V.  There,  at  the  emper- 
or's court,  he  met  Cortes,  who  came  to  lay  the  wealth 
of  conquered  Mexico  at  his  sovereign's  feet,  and 
Charles,  with  a  lively  sense  of  more  to  come, 
despatched  Pizarro  to  overthrow  Peru. 

Between  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  Andes  lies  a 
series  of  lofty  plains  and  valleys,  in  those  days  irri- 
gated and  farmed  by  an  immense  civilized  population. 
A  highway,  in  length  1,100  miles,  threaded  the  settle- 
ments together.  The  whole  empire  was  ruled  by  a 
foreign  dynasty,  called  the  Incas,  a  race  of  fighting 
despots  by  whom  the  people  had  been  more  or  less 
enslaved.  The  last  Inca  had  left  the  northern  king- 
dom of  Quito  to  his  younger  son,  the  ferocious  Ata- 
huallpa,  and  the  southern  realm  of  Cuzco  to  his  heir, 
the  gentle  Huascar. 

These  brothers  fought  until  Atahuallpa  subdued  the 
southern  kingdom,  imprisoned  Huascar,  and  reigned 


■'  i.* 


ifi  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

so  far  as  he  knew  over  the  whole  world.  It  was  then 
that  from  outside  the  world  came  one  hundred  sixty- 
eight  men  of  an  unknown  race  possessed  of  ships, 
horses,  armor  and  muskets  —  things  very  marvelous, 
and  useful  to  have.  The  emperor  invited  these 
strangers  to  cross  the  Andes,  intending,  when  they 
came,  to  take  such  blessings  as  the  Sun  might  send 
him.  The  city  of  Caxamalca  was  cleared  of  its 
people,  and  the  buildings  enclosing  the  market  place 
were  furnished  for  the  reception  of  the  Spaniards. 

The  emperor's  main  army  was  seven  hundred  miles 
to  the  southward,  but  the  white  men  were  appalled  by 
the  enormous  host  attending  him  in  his  camp,  where 
he  had  hahed  to  bathe  at  the  hot  springs,  three  miles 
from  their  new  quarters.  The  Peruvian  watch  fires 
on  the  mountain  sides  were  as  thick  as  the  stars  of 
heaven. 

The  sun  was  setting  next  day  when  a  procession 
entered  the  Plaza  of  Caxamalca,  a  retinue  of  six  thou- 
sand guards,  nobles,  courtiers,  dignitaries,  surround- 
ing the  litter  on  which  was  placed  the  gently  swaying 
golden  throne  of  the  young  emperor. 

Of  all  the  Spaniards,  only  one  came  forward,  a 
priest  who,  through  an  interpreter,  preached,  explain- 
ing from  the  ccmmiencement  of  the  world  the  story  of 
his  faith,  Saint  Peter's  sovereignty,  the  papal  office, 
and  Pizarro's  mission  to  receive  the  homage  of  this 
barbarian.  The  emperor  listened,  amused  at  first,  then 
bored,  at  lr-.,t  affronted,  throwing  down  the  book  he 
was  asked  to  kiss.  On  that  a  scarf  waved  and  the 
Spaniards  swept  from  their  ambush,  blocking  the  exits, 
charging  as  a  wolf-pack  on  a  sheepfold,  riding  the 
people  down  while  they  slaughtered.    So  great  was 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU  47 

the  pressure  that  a  wall  of  the  courtyard  fell,  releasing 
thousands  whose  panic  flight  stampeded  the  Incas' 
army.  But  the  nobles  had  rallied  about  their  sov- 
ereign, unarmed  but  with  desperate  valor  clinging 
to  the  legs  of  the  horses  and  breaking  the  charge  of 
cavalry.  They  threw  themselves  in  the  way  of  the 
fusillades,  their  bodies  piled  in  mounds,  their  blood 
flooding  the  pavement  Then,  as  the  bearers  fell,  tjie 
golden  throne  was  overturned,  and  the  emperor  hur- 
ried away  a  prisoner.  Two  thousand  people  had 
perished  in  the  attempt  to  save  him. 

The  history  of  the  Mexican  conquest  was  repeated 
here,  and  once  more  a  captive  emperor  reigned  under 
Spanish  dictation. 

This  Atahuallpa  was  made  of  sterner  stuff  than 
Montezuma,  and  had  his  defeated  brother  Huascar 
drowned,  lest  the  Spaniards  should  make  use  of  his 
rival  claim  to  the  throne.  The  Peruvian  prince  had  no 
illusions  as  to  the  divinity  of  the  white  men,  saw 
clearly  that  their  real  religion  was  the  adoration  of 
gold,  and  in  contempt  offered  a  bribe  for  his  freedom. 
Reaching  the  full  extent  of  his  arm  to  a  height  of 
nine  feet,  he  boasted  that  to  that  level  he  would  fill 
the  throne  room  with  gold  as  the  price  of  his  liberty, 
and  twice  he  would  fill  the  anteroom  with  silver.  So 
he  sent  orders  to  every  city  of  his  empire  commanding 
that  the  shrines,  the  temples,  palaces  and  gardens  be 
stripped  of  their  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  save  only 
the  bodies  of  the  dead  kings,  his  fathers.  Of  course, 
the  priests  made  haste  to  bury  their  treasures,  but  the 
Spaniards  went  to  see  the  plunder  coUected  and  when 
they  had  finished  no  treasures  were  left  in  sight  save 
«  course  of  solid  golden  ingots  in  the  walls  of  the 


t' 
'''A 


4*  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Temple  of  the  Sun  at  Cuzco,  and  certain  nutwive 
beams  of  sflver  too  heavy  for  shipment.  Still  the 
plunder  of  an  empire  failed  to  reach  the  nine-foot  line 
on  the  walls  of  the  throne  room  at  Caxamalca,  but  the 
soldiers  were  tired  of  waiting,  especially  when  the 
gtJdsmiths  to<*  a  month  to  melt  the  gold  into  ingots. 
So  the  royal  fifth  was  shipped  to  the  king  of  Spain, 
KauTo's  share  was  set  apart,  a  tithe  was  dedicated  to 
the  Church,  and  the  remainder  divided  among  th* 
soldiers  according  to  their  rank,  in  all  three  and  a  half 
millions  sterling  by  modem  measurement,  the  greatest 
king's  ransom  known  to  history.  Then  the  emperor 
was  tried  by  a  mock  court-martial,  sentenced  to  death 
and  murdered.  It  is  comforting  to  note  that  of  all 
who  took  part  in  that  infamy  not  one  escaped  an  early 
and  a  violent  death. 

Piarro  had  been  in  a  business  partnership  with  the 
schoohnaster  Luque  of  Panama  cathedral,  and  with 
Almagro,  a  little  fat,  one-eyed  adventurer,  who  now 
arrived  on  the  scene  with  reinforcements.  Pizarro's 
brothers  also  came  from  Spain.  So  when  the  em- 
peror's death  lashed  the  Peruvians  to  desperation, 
there  were  Spaniards  enough  to  face  odds  of  a  hundred 
to  one  in  a  long  series  of  battles,  en^ng  with  the  siege 
of  the  adventurers  who  held  Cuzco  against  the  Inca 
Manco  for  five  months.  The  city,  vast  in  extent,  was 
thatched,  and  burned  for  seven  days  with  the  Span- 
iards in  the  midst.  They  fought  in  sheer  despair,  and 
the  Indians  with  heroism,  their  best  weapon  the  lasso, 
their  main  hope  that  of  starving  the  garrison  to  death. 
No  vator  could  possibly  save  these  heroic  robbers, 
shut  off  from  escape  or  from  rescue  by  the  impen- 
etrate rampart  of  the  Andes.    They  owed  their  sal- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU  49 

vatfon  to  the  fact  that  the  !„<««„  „„«  dl.per«  to 
reap  their  crop.  lest  the  entire  nation  perish  otZn^ 
and  the  last  of  the  Incas  ended  hi.  mTt^^ 
m  the  recesses  of  the  mountains.  ^       ^  , 

AhZl  "T  "  f^  *"■  "***•«"  *«  K'arros.  and 


III 

fill 


VIII 

A.  D.  1534 

THE  CORSAIRS 

IN  1453  Qtnstantinople  was  beseiged  end  ktormed 
by  the  Turks,  the  Christian  emperor  tell  with  sixty 
thousand  of  his  men  in  battle,  and  the  Caliph  Mahomet 
U  raised  the  standard  of  Islam  over  the  last  ruins  of 
the  Roman  empire. 

Four  years  later  a  sailorman,  a  Christian  from  the 
Balkan  States,  turned  Moslem  and  was  banished  from 
the  city.  He  married  a  Christian  widow  in  Mitylene 
and  raised  two  sons  to  his  trade.  At  a  very  tender 
age,  Uruj,  the  elder  son,  went  into  business  as  a 
pirate,  and  on  his  maiden  cruise  was  chased  and 
captured  by  a  galley  of  the  Knights  of  Saint 
John  who  threw  him  into  the  hold  to  be  a  slave  at 
the  oars.  That  night  a  slave  upon  the  nearest  oar- 
bench  disturbed  the  (crew  by  groaning,  and  to 
keep  him  quiet  was  thrown  overboard.  Not  liking 
his  situation  or  prospects,  Uruj  slipped  his  shackles, 
crept  out  and  swam  ashore.  On  his  next  voyage,  be- 
ing still  extremely  young,  he  was  captured  and  swam 
ashore  again.  Then  the  sultan's  brother  fitted  him 
out  as  a  corsair  at  the  cost  of  five  thousand  ducats, 
to  be  paid  by  the  basha  of  Egypt,  and  so,  thanks  to 
this  act  of  princely  generosity,  Uruj  was  able  to  open 
50 


THE  CORSAIRS  St 

t  general  pnctbe.  Hi»  young  brother  Khiir,  alio 
a  pirate,  joined  him;  the  firm  wa«  protected  t^  the 
•ulun  of  Tunis  who  got  a  commiision  of  twenty 
per  cent,  on  the  loot;  and  l.ting  tteady,  indu»- 
trious  and  thrifty,  by  strict  apr  licjtlofi  to  Kusiness, 
they  made  a  reputation  thto.:gl,r,'it  th»  i\'n:i'ie  Sea. 
Indeed  the  Grand  Turk  b.;i<Mt  :  vik,i.  fvh-zr  le  title 
"  Protector  of  Religion,"  ^  Llstiiiction  .v.v  -  i^ranted 
before  or  since  to  any  prrfessio.  !il  i v!)!  ^r  1. 1  ite  after 
a  bitter  hard  fight  the  tirollievs  (,T)iur»d  a  rirst-rate 
ship  of  war,  The  Galley  of  A',;.'.'^/  and  six  lady  pas- 
sengers besides  three  hundred  'i  ?u  .vre  marched 
ashore  into  sla-.ery.  "  See,"  saici  m  .  sultan  of  Tunis, 
"  how  Heaven  recompenses  the  brave  I "  Uruj,  by  the 
way,  was  laid  up  some  months  for  repairs,  and  in  hii 
next  engagement,  a  silly  attack  on  a  fortress,  hap- 
pened  to  lose  an  arm  as  part  of  his  recompense. 

By  this  time  the  brothers  were  weary  of  that  twenty 
per  cent,  commission  to  the  unctuous  sultan  of  Tunis, 
and  by  way  of  cheating  him,  took  to  besieging 
fortresses,  or  sacking  towns.  Christian  or  Moslem  a* 
the  case  might  be,  until  they  had  base  camps  of  their 
own,  Uruj  as  king  of  Tlemcen,  and  Khizr  as  king  of 
Algiers.  Then  Uruj  fell  in  battle,  and  Khizr  Bar- 
barossa  began  to  do  business  as  a  wholesale  pirate 
with  a  branch  kingdom  of  Tunis,  and  fleets  to  destroy 
all  commerce,  to  wreck  and  bum  settlements  of  the 
Christian  powers  until  he  had  command  of  the  sea  as 
a  fi"t-class  nuisance.  The  gentle  Moors,  most 
civilized  of  peoples,  expelled  from  Spain  (1493)  by 
the  callous  ill-faith  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and 
stranded  upon  North  Africa  to  starve,  manned  Bar- 
barossa's  fleets  for  a  bloody  vengeance  upwi  Christian 


, "  V. 


Sa  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Europe.  Then  Charles  V  brought  the  strength  of 
Spain,  Germany  and  Italy  to  bear  in  an  expedition 
against  Barbarossa,  but  his  fleet  was  wrecked  by  a 
storm,  dear  proof  that  Allah  had  taken  sides  with  the 
strong  pirate  king.  Barbarossa  then  despatched  his 
lieutenant  Hassan  to  ravage  the  coast  of  Valencia. 

It  was  upon  this  venture  that  Hassan  met  a  trans- 
port merchantman  with  a  hundred  veteran  Spanish 
infantry,  too  strong  to  attack ;  so  when  this  lieutenant 
returned  to  Algiers  dee^Iaden  with  spoil  and  captives 
from  his  raid,  he  found  King  Barbarossa  far  from 
pleased.  The  prisoners  were  butchered,  and  Hassan 
was  flogged  in  public  for  having  shirked  an  engage- 
ment That  is  why  Hassan  joined  with  Venalcadi,  a 
brother  officer  who  was  also  in  disE;.-ace,  and  together 
they  drove  Barbarossa  out  of  Algeria.  Presently  the 
king  came  back  with  a  whole  fleet  of  his  fellow  cor- 
sairs, brother  craftsmen,  the  Jew,  and  Hunt-the-Devtl, 
Saterrez  and  Tabas,  all  moved  to  grief  and  rage  by 
the  tears  of  a  sorely  ill-treated  hero.  With  the  aid  of 
sixty  captive  Spanish  soldiers,  who  won  their  free- 
dom, they  captured  Algiers,  wiped  out  the  mutineers, 
and  restored  the  most  perfect  harmony.  Indeed,  by 
way  of  proof  that  there  really  was  no  trouble  among 
the  corsairs,  King  Barbarossa  sent  oflE  Hunt-the-Devil 
with  seventeen  ships  to  burn  Spain.  Ever  in  blood 
and  tears,  their  homes  in  flames,  their  women  ravished, 
their  very  children  enslaved,  the  Spaniards  had  to  pay 
for  breaking  faith  with  the  Moors  of  Granada. 

Barbarossa  was  not  yet  altogether  king  of  Algiers. 
For  twenty  years  the  Penon,  a  fortress  fronting  that 
city,  had  been  held  by  Martin  de  Vargas  and  his  garri- 
•on.    Worn  out  with  disease  and  famine  these  Span- 


THE  CORSAIRS 


53 

lards  now  fought  Barbarossa  to  the  last  breath  but 
th«r  walls  went  down  in  ruin,  the  breach  wasTtonnS 
and  all  were  put  to  the  sword.    De  Vargas   S 

S:^  S^"?h  ')'  '"'"  °^  ^  SpaniaXh^ta'S 
betrayed  han.  The  traitor  was  promptly  beheaded 
but  Barbarossa  turned  upon  De  Vargas  "  Vn?,; 
yours "  he  .mJM   "I,-  .       "•"8**-       lou  and 

and  h.  .I-  •'  .""  '=''"''**'  ™«  t°o  """ch  trouble  " 
and  he  agau,  signed  to  the  headsman.    So  De  Var^ 

Terrible  was  the  rage  of  Charles  V,  emperor  of  half 
Europe  thus  defied  and  insulted  by  the  a?S   Jof 

Andrea  Dona,  the  greatest  Christian  admiral  of  tha 
tW  !t  """^  ''^'"''  Barbarossa.  And  at  the  same 
toe  the  commander  of  the  faithful,  SuleSan Te 

p?5^;^rs-t^td^s5 

rXwerrt^'it"'  °"'^  *  •»*  «-'  "^^  ^-  v'- 
( V^-^o^nd^C^  -r Left^^^^ 

Erre'i^^'^^o'rvir''''''-^^^^^^^^^^ 
BarLr  s;rLsrof^- ,  i-ri 

^ttcsfeir'^"^-'*"^*'^^^^^"^^^^^ 


fit' 


54 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Charles  V,  attended  by  his  admiral,  Andrea  Doria, 
came  with  an  army  and  a  mighty  fleet  to  Tunis. 

He  drove  out  Barbarossa,  a  penniless,  discredited 
fugitive;  and  his  soldiers  slaughtered  thirty  thousand 
citizens  of  Tunis  to  console  them  for  the  pirate's  late 
atrocities. 

Poor  old  Barbarossa,  past  seventy  years  of  age,  had 
lost  a  horde  of  fifty  thousand  men,  his  kingdom  of 
Tunis,  fleet  and  arsenal )  but  he  still  had  fifteen  galleys 
left  at  Bona,  his  kingdom  of  Algiers  to  fall  back  upon, 
and  his  Moorish  seamen,  who  had  no  trade  to  win 
them  honest  bread  except  as  pirates.  "  Cheer  up,"  said 
he,  to  these  broken  starving  men,  and  after  a  little 
holiday  they  sacked  the  Balearic  Isles  taking  five 
thousand,  seven  hundred  slaves,  and  any  amount  of 
shipping.  Then  came  the  building  of  a  Turkish  fleet ; 
and  with  one  hundred  twenty  sail,  Barbarossa  went 
to  his  last  culminating  triumph,  the  defeat  of  Andvea 
Doria,  who  had  at  Prevesa  one  hundred  ninety-fwe 
ships,  sixty  thousand  men,  and  two  thousand,  fim 
hundred  ninety-four  guns.  With  that  victory  he  re- 
tired, and  after  ei^t  years  of  peace,  he  died  in  his 
bed,  fuU  of  years  and  honors.  For  centuries  to  come 
an  Turkish  ships  saluted  with  their  guns,  and  d^iped 
their  colors  whenever  they  passed  the  gr-a-'z  of  the 
King  of  the  Sea. 

S*a     Wolves     of     the     Me^Jtenmian, 
Tl— lilton  Carrey,  fLS.    John  Murray. 


A.  D.  1543 

PORTUGAL  IN  THE  INDIES 

TT  vas  Italian  trade  that  bought  and  paid  for  the 
■■•  designs  of  Raphael,  the  temples  of  MichelangeJo, 
the  sculptures  of  Cetlini,  the  inventions  of  Da  Vinci, 
for  all  the  wonders,  the  glories,  the  splendors  of  in- 
^ed  Italy.  And  it  was  not  good  for  the  Italian 
trade  that  Barbarossa,  and  the  corsairs  of  three  cen- 
turies in  his  walce,  beggared  the  merchants  and  en- 
slaved their  seamen.  But  Italian  commerce  had  its 
source  in  the  Indian  Seas,  and  Ihe  ruin  of  Italy  began 
wt.en  the  sea  adventures  of  Portugal  rounded  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  to  rob,  to  trade,  to  govern  and  convert 
at  the  old  centers  of  Arabian  business. 

Poverty  is  the  mother  of  labor,  labor  the  parent 
of  wealth  and  genius.  It  is  the  poverty  of  Attica, 
and  the  Roman  swamps,  of  sterile  Scotland,  boggy 
Ireland,  swampy  Holland,  stony  New  England,  which 
drove  them  to  high  endeavor  and  great  reward 
Portugal,  too,  had  that  advantage  of  being  small  and 
poor,  without  resources,  or  any  motive  to  keep  the 
folk  at  home.  So  the  fishermen  took  to  trading  and 
exploration  led  by  Cao  who  found  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  Vasco  da  Gama  who  smelt  out  the  way  to  India, 
Almeida  who  gained  command  of  the  Indiai.  Seas! 
35 


IV 


S6  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Cabral  who  discovered  Brazil,  Albuquerque  who,  seiz- 
ii^r  Goa  and  Malacca,  established  a  Oiristian  empire 
in  the  Indies,  and  Magellan,  who  showed  Spain  the 
way  to  the  Pacific. 

Of  these  the  typical  man  was  Da  Gama,  a  noble  with 
the  motives  of  a  crusader  and  the  habits  of  a  pirate, 
who  once  set  fire  to  a  shipload  of  Arab  pilgrims,  and 
watched  unmoved  while  the  women  on  her  blazing 
deck  held  out  little  babies  in  the  vain  hope  of  mercy. 
On  his  first  voyage  he  icame  to  Calicut,  a  center  of 
Hindu  civilization,  a  seat  of  Arab  commerce,  and  to 
the  rajah  sent  a  present  of  washing  basin*,  casks  of 
oil,  a  few  strings  of  coral,  fit  illustration  of  the  poverty 
of  his  brave  country,  accepted  as  a  joke  in  polished, 
wealthy,  weary  India.  The  king  gave  him  leave  to 
trade,  but  seized  the  poor  trade  goods  until  the  Portu- 
guese ships  had  been  ransacked  for  two  hundred 
twenty-three  pounds  in  gold  to  pay  the  customs  duties. 
The  point  of  the  joke  was  only  realized  when  on  his 
second  voyage  Da  Gama  came  with  a  fleet,  bombarded 
Calicut,  and  loaded  his  ships  with  spices,  leaving  a 
trail  of  blood  and  ashes  along  the  Indian  coast. 
Twenty  years  later  he  came  a  third  time,  but  now  as 
viceroy  to  the  Portuguese  Indies.  Portugal  was  no 
longer  poor,  but  the  richest  state  in  Europe,  bleeding 
herself  to  death  to  find  the  men  for  her  ventures. 

Now  these  arrogant  and  ferocious  officials,  military 
robbers,  fishermen  turned  corsairs,  and  ravenous  trad- 
ers taught  the  whole  East  to  hate  and  fear  the  Christ. 
And  then  came  a  tiny  little  monk  no  more  than  five 
feet  high,  a  white-haired,  blue-eyed  mendicant,  who 
begged  the  rice  he  lived  on.  Yet  so  sweet  was  his 
temper,  so  magical  the  charm,  so  supernatural  the 


PORTUGAL  IN  THE  INDIES  57 

2^Z6ti^'l^r^°°'  "^"^  *»'  the  children  wor- 
tK  ^  '  ^"  ''"*  t"  ''i™  to  be  healed,  and 
the  pirates  were  proud  to  have  him  as  their  guest.  He 
was  a  gentleman,  a  Spanish  Basque,  by  naTe  F  and! 

felUm  rtudent  wth  tlie  reformer  Calvin,  then  a  ^nd 
jndfcrf  W  0/  Ignatius  de  Loyola.  hWhi^  to 

Sr^.?!^''*'^**^-  ^v«r  came  to  the  Indies 
in  IS42  M  a  Jesuit  priest. 

Once  on  a  «a  voyage  Xavier  stood  for  some  time 
watching  a  soldier  at  carete,  who  gambled  away  al  Tis 
money  and  then  a  U«^  s««  which  had  been  entrusted 
to  h..  care  When  the  ^^^  ^as  in  tears  and  threat- 
ening suicide.  Xavier  borrowed  for  him  the  su^  of 
one  shilling  twopence,  shuffled  and  dealt  for  hirand 
watched  hm,  win  back  all  that  he  had  lost.  Tt'ttat 
pomt    Saint    Francis    set    to    work    to    save    the 

Jn  the  official  record  of  his  miracles. 

From  his  own  letters  one  sees  how  th.  u^,tu 
po^zled  this  littl.  saint.  "- Was  Sd  ^Ickt  S  t"! 

hM    ,  T  "  '°  «'"*  ^«"''y  °f  <:°>or  among  man 
and  the  Indians  are  themselves  black,  they  est^  The^ 

rWack..""'  ''"''■  •"'^  '"''  ''^'  '^-  ^"^^  - 
He  does  not  say  how  he  answered,  indeed  it  was 
-ardly  by  words  that  tl.is  hidalgo  of  Spain  preacid 
.n  the  many  languages  he  could  never  learn  Once 
^hen  I,„  converts  were  threatened  by  a  hostile  army 
he  went  alon.  to  challenge  the  invaders,  and  with  u7 

fron^t  ranks  wavered  and  halted.    Their  comrade.  ,nd 
—  =  vusmy  prcssca  tiiem  to  advance,  but  no  man 


^'^P^f^ 


5« 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


dared  pass  the  black-robed  figure  which  barred  the 
way,  and  presently  the  whole  force  retreated. 

Once  in  the  Spice  Islands  while  he  was  saying  mass 
on  the  feast  of  the  Archangel  Saint  Michael  a  tremen- 
dous earthquake  scattered  the  congregation.  The 
priest  held  up  the  shaking  altar  and  went  on  with  mass, 
while,  as  he  says,  "  Perhaps  Saint  Michael,  by  his 
heavenly  power,  was  driving  into  the  depths  of  hell  all 
the  wicked  spirits  of  the  country  who  were  opposing 
the  worship  of  the  true  God." 

Such  was  the  apostle  of  the  Indies,  and  it  is  a  pleas- 
ant thing  to  trace  the  story  of  his  mission  in  Japan  in 
the  Peregrination,  a  book  by  a  thorough  rogue. 

Fernao  Mendes  Pinto  was  a  distant  relative  of  Ana- 
nias. He  sailed  for  India  in  1537  "  meanly  accommo- 
dated." At  Diu  he  joined  an  expedition  to  watch  the 
Turkish  fleet  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  from  Massawa  was 
sent  with  letters  to  the  king  of  Abyssinia.  That  was 
great  luck,  because  the  very  black  and  more  or  less 
Christian  kingdom  was  supposed  to  be  the  seat  of  the 
legendary,  immortal,  shadowy,  Prester  John.  On  his 
way  back  to  Massawa  the  adventurer  was  wrecked, 
captured  by  Arabs,  sold  into  slavery,  bought  by  a  Jew, 
and  resold  in  the  commercial  city  of  Ormus  where 
there  were  Christian  buyers.  He  found  his  way  to 
Goa,  the  capital  of  the  Portuguese  Indies,  thence  to 
Malacca,  where  he  got  a  job  as  political  a^  -nt  in  Su- 
matra.    With  this  ended  the  dull  period  of  his  travels. 

In  those  days  there  were  ships  manned  by  Portu- 
guese rogues  very  good  in  port,  but  unpleasant  to  meet 
with  at  sea.  They  were  armed  with  caimon,  pots  of 
wild  fire,  unslaked  lime  to  be  fiung  in  the  Chinese 
manner,  stones,  javelins,  arrows,  half-pikes,  axes  and 


FuAN-rrs  Xahfr 


PORTUGAL  IN  THE  INDIES 


59 


grappling  irons,  all  used  to  collect  toll  from  Chinese, 
Malay,  or  even  Arab  merchants.  Pinto  found  that 
this  life  suited  him,  and  long  afterward,  writing  as  a 
penitent  sinner,  described  the  fun  of  torturing  old  men 
and  children :  "  Made  their  brains  fly  out  of  their 
heads  with  a  cord  "  or  looked  on  while  the  victims  died 
raving  "  like  mad  dogs."  It  was  great  sport  to  sur- 
prise some  junk  at  anchor,  and  fling  pots  of  gunpowder 
among  thr  sleeping  crew,  tlien  watch  them  dive  and^ 
drown.  "The  captain  of  one  such  junk  was  'a  no- 
torious Pyrat,'  and  Pinto  comptactntly  draws  the 
moral  '  Thus  you  see  how  it  pleased  God,  out  of  His 
Divine  justice  to  make  the  arrogant  confidence  of  this 
cursed  dog  a  means  to  chastise  him  for  his  cruelties.' " 

So  Christians  set  an  example  to  the  heathen. 

Antonio  de  Faria,  Pinto's  captain,  had  vowed  to  wipe 
out  Kwaja  Hussain,  a  Moslem  corsair  from  Gujerat 
in  Western  India.  In  search  of  Hussain  he  had  many 
adventures  in  the  China  seas,  capturing  pirate  crews, 
dashing  out  their  brains,  and  collecting  amber,  gold 
and  pearls.  Off  Hainan  he  so  frightened  the  local 
buccaneers  that  they  proclaimed  him  their  king  and 
arranged  to  pay  him  tribute. 

Luckily  for  them  Faria's  ship  was  cast  away  upon  a 
desert  island.  The  crew  found  a  deer  which  had  beeq 
left  by  a  tiger,  half  eaten;  their  shouts  would  scare 
the  gulls  as  they  flew  overhead,  so  that  the  birds 
dropped  such  fish  as  they  had  captured;  and  then  by 
good  luck  they  discovered  a  Chinese  junk  whose  peo- 
ple, going  ashore,  h?/?  left  her  in  charge  of  an  old  man 
and  a  child.  Amid  the  clamors  of  the  Chinese  own- 
ers Faria  made  off  with  this  junk.  He  was  soon  at 
the  head  of  a  new  expedition  in  quest  of  that  wicked 


*>  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

p5«te.  Kw.ja  Hussain.  Thi.  tmbition  wai  fulfilled. 
«nd  with  holds  full  of  plunder  the  virtuou.  Faria  put 
into  Liampo.  Back  among  the  aristians  he  had  a 
royal  welcome,  but  actually  bluAed  when  a  sermon 
was  preached  in  his  honor.  The  preacher  waxed  too 
eloquent,  whereupon  some  of  his  friends  plucked 
h.m  three  or  four  times  by  the  surplice,  for  to  make 
hun  give  over."  It  seems  that  even  godly  Christian 
pirates  have  some  sense  of  humor 

Once  in  the  Malay  states.  Pinto  and  a  friend  of  his, 
a  Mosl»,.  were  asked  to  dine  with  a  bigwig,  also  a 
True  Believer     At  d.pner  they  spoke  evil  about  the 

f V'!^^  'u*^  «°'  *'"^  °^  ♦•'«  ^'a"der.  Pinto 
watched  both  of  these  Moslem  gentlemen  having  their 
feet  sawn  off,  then  their  hands,  and  finally  their  heads. 
As  for  hunself,  he  talked  about  his  rich  relations, 
cla-mmg  Dom  Pedro  de  Faria,  a  very  powerful  noble 
as  h>s  uncle.  He  said  the  factor  had  embezzled  his 
uncle  s  money  and  fully  deserved  his  fate.  "  AH  this  " 
says  Pmto,  "was  extemporized  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment,  not  knowing  well  what  I  said."  The  liar 
got  off. 

Pinto's  career  as  a  pirate  ended  in  shipwreck,  cai^ 
ture,  slavery  and  a  journey  in  China  where  he  was  pu[ 
to  work  on  the  repairing  of  the  Great  Wall.    He  was 

III  ""'T^^t  ^T^  '"  '544  when  Altan  Khan, 
kmg  of  the  lumeds-a  Mongolian  horde -swept 
down  out  of  the  deserts.  ^ 

The  Mongols  sacked  Quinsay,  and  Pinto  as  a  pris- 
oner was  brought  before  Altan  Khan  who  was  be- 
s.egmg  Pekm.  When  the  siege  was  raised  he  accom- 
panied the  Mongol  army  on  its  retreat  into  the  heart 
of  Asia.    In  time  he  found  favor  with  his  masters 


TORTOGAL  IN  THE  INDIES  8, 

covy  (Russia),  and  ha7^„  k*"". ?™«  «>«  of  Mu.- 
of  Denmark.  Then  col.^"  »^"'"'"'  ^^  *^«  ««« 
of  Lha«..  and  thread  r  °  *  •'~""'  °^  ^ib^T 
China,  and  the  *?^  inf:^'  «"''  •<>  »«  Cochin 
great  journev  anH  t,.  -i  •  '     '"*"*  *"«<><  a  very 

With  XavierV  Jair''^"'' '«  "-'^n  afterward 
Lisbon  after  twen^one  ytrs  of T.^  ''  '*'""«^  *<> 
h«  was  five  times  shipwr^".  ^'""*"'*  '"  ^^ich 
WW  as  a  slave.        "'P*'***««"'  »"d  seventeen  times 

It  is  disheartening  to  have  .n  i.Vfi 
great  world  of  Porfug^ese  !h!  *  •*"""'  ^°'  ">« 

Where  Camoens,  one  Tthe  ^o'Sr.  '"  ***  ^"'''«' 
the  immortal  Liuiads.  ^'"  P°*'*'  wrote 

However  ferocious,  these  Pn^. 
were  loyal,  brave  and  strode  ^T^'«  adventurers 
of  Europe  to  the  East  S  tZ'^cT""'  ""  ^'y 
civilized  Brazil.  Once  at  A^  O-nstianized  and 
spoke  to  me  of  Enriand's  J^n't."  ^°'^"P'«e  lady 
*"•"  toward  her  ^^^  r?t^^°%^  «"""«?  ''«■ 
cried.  •'  What  you^ewe  w.«  ^°"  .^"«''''' '  "  "he 
you  wfll  be  I "  *'"  °"« '  what  we  are, 

Mfe  ""  '^'--  -"^  »"  W«.„,   b.  ic  G.  J^ 


MIOOCOPY   «ESOlUTK]N  TEST  CHAIT 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


IM 


|2J 


12.2 


1«    |70 


A     /APPLIED  IM/1GE    In 


1653  Easl  Main  SlrMt 
Rochntar.  Naw  York        14eC 
(716)   482-0300-  Phona 
(716)  288-5989  -Fox 


A.  D.  1841 
RAJAH  BROOKE 

BORNEO  is  a  hot  forest  about  five  hundred  miles 
long,  and  as  wide,  inhabited  by  connoisseurs 
called  Dyaks,  keen  cojlectors.  They  collect  human 
heads  and  some  of  their  pieces  are  said  to  be  very 
valuable.  They  are  a  happy  little  folk  with  most 
amusing  manners  and  customs.  Here  is  their  ritual 
for  burial  of  the  dead : 

"  When  a  man  dies  his  friends  and  relations  meet 
in  the  house  and  take  their  usual  seats  around  the 
room.  The  deceased  is  then  brought  in  attired  in  his 
best  clothes,  with  a  cigar  fixed  in  his  mouth ;  and,  being 
placed  on  the  mat  in  the  same  manner  as  when  alive, 
his  betel  box  is  set  by  his  side.  The  friends  go 
through  the  form  of  conversing  with  him,  and  offer 
him  the  best  advice  concerning  his  future  proceedings, 
and  then,  having  feasted,  the  body  is  deposited'  in  a 
large  coffin  and  kept  in  the  house  for  several  months." 

The  habits  of  the  natives  have  been  interfered  with 
by  the  Malays,  who  conquered  most  of  them  and 
carved  their  island  up  into  kingdoms  more  or  less 
civilized,  but  not  managed  at  all  in  the  interests  of 
the  Dyaks.  These  kingdoms  were  decayed  and 
tumbling  to  pieces  when  the  Dutch  came  in  to  help, 
6a 


RAJAH  BROOKE 


63 


and  helped  themselves  to  the  whole  of  Borneo  except 
the  northwestern  part.  They  pressingly  invited  them- 
selves there  also,  but  the  Malay  rajah  kept  putting 
them  off  \.ith  all  sorts  of  polite  excuses. 

While  the  rajah's  minister  was  running  short  of 
excuses  to  delay  the  Dutch  an  English  yacht  arrived 
in  Sarawak.    The  owner  was  Mr.  James  Brooke,  who 
had  been  an  officer  in  the  East  India  Company,  but 
bemg  hit  with  a  slug  in  the  lungs  during  the  first 
Burma  war,  was  retired  with  a  pension  of  seventy 
pounds    for   wounds.    Afterward    he    came    into    a 
fortune  of  thirty  thousand  pounds,  took  to  yachting 
traveled  a  great  deal  in  search  of  adventure,  and  so  in 
1839  arrived  m  Sarawak  on  the  lookout  for  trouble 
An  Englishman  of  gentle  birth  is  naturally  expected 
to  tell  the  truth,  to  be  clean  in  all  his  dealings,  to  keep 
his  temper,  and  not  to  show  his  fears.    Not  being  a 
beastly  cad,  Brooke  as  a  matter  of  course  conformed 
to  the  ordinary  standards  and,  having  no  worries,  was 
able  to  do  so  cheerfully.    One  may  meet  men  of  this 
stock,  size  and  pattern  by  thousands  the  world  over 
but  in  a  decayed  Malay  state,  at  war  with  the  Dyaks 
ashore  and  the  pirates  afloat,  Brooke  was  a  phenome- 
non just  as  astonishing  as  a  first-class  comet,  an  earth- 
quake eruption,  or  a  cyclone.    His  arrival  was  the 
only  important  event  in  the  whole  history  of  North 
Borneo.    The  rajah  sought  his  advice  in  dealing  with 
the  Dutch,  the  Dyaks  and  the  pirates.    The  Malays 
Dyaks.  pirates  and  everybody  else  consulted  him  as  to 
their  dealings  with  the  rajah.    On  his  second  visit  he 
took  a  boat  s  crew  from  his  yacht  and  went  to  the  seat 
of  war     There  he  tried  to  the  verge  of  tears  to  per- 
suade the  hostile  forces  either  to  fight  or  make  friends 


ft  'I 
III 


Si' 


64 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


and  when  nobody  could  be  induced  to  do  anything  at 
all,  he,  with  his  boat's  crew  and  one  native  warrior, 
stormed  the  Dya).  position,  putting  the  enemy  to  total 
rout  and  ilight.  Luckily,  nobody  was  hurt,  for  even 
a  cut  finger  would  have  spoiled  the  perfect  bloodless- 
ness  of  Brooke's  victorj-.  Then  the  Dyaks  surren- 
dered to  Brooke.  Afterward  the  pirate  fleet  ap- 
peared at  the  capital,  not  to  attack  the  rajah,  but  to 
be  inspected  by  Brooke,  and  when  he  had  patted  the 
pirates  they  went  away  to  purr.  Moreover  the  rajah 
o£Fered  to  hand  over  his  kingdom  to  Brooke  as  man- 
ager, and  the  Englishman  expected  him  to  keep  his 
word.  Brooke  brought  a  shipload  of  stores  in  pay- 
ment for  a  cargo  of  manganese,  but  the  rajah  was  so 
contented  with  that  windfall  that  he  forgot  to  send 
to  his  mines  for  the  ore. 

Further  up  the  coast  a  British  ship  was  destroyed 
by  lightning,  and  her  crew  got  ashore  where  they 
were  held  as  captives  pending  a  large  ransom.  Even 
when  the  captain's  wife  had  a  baby  the  local  bigwig 
thereabouts  saw  a  new  chance  of  plunder,  and  stole 
the  baby-clothes.  Then  the  shipwrecked  mariners 
sent  a  letter  to  Brooke  appealing  for  his  help;  but 
nothing  on  earth  could  induce  the  spineless  boneless 
rajah  to  send  the  relief  he  had  promised.  Then 
Brooke  wrote  to  Singapore  whence  the  East  India 
Company  despatched  a  war-ship  which  rescued  the 
forty  castaways. 

The  rajah's  next  performance  was  to  urange  for  a 
percentage  with  two  thousand,  five  hundred  robbers 
who  proposed  to  plunder  and  massacre  his  own  sub- 
jects. Brooke  from  his  yacht  stampeded  the  raiders 
with  a  few  rounds  from  the  big  guns — Uank  of 


RAJAH  BROOKE 


6S 


and 


course.    Brooke  was  getting   rather  hard   up, 
could  not  spare  ball  ammunition  on  week-days. 

So  King  Muda  Hassim  lied,  cheated,  stole,  be- 
trayed, and  occasionally  murdered  — a  mean  rogue, 
abject,  cringing  to  Brooke,  weeping  at  the  English- 
man's threats  to  depart,  holding  his  throne  so  long  as 
the  white  yacht  gave  him  prestige;  but  all  this  with 
pomp  and  circumstance,  display  of  gems  and  gold, 
a  gorgeous  retinue,  plenty  of  music,  and  royal  salutes 
on  the  very  slightest  pretext.  But  all  the  population 
was  given  over  to  rapine  and  slaughter,  and  the  forest 
was  closing  in  on  ruined  farms.  The  last  and  only 
hope  of  the  nation  was  in  Brooke. 

Behind  every  evil  in  the  state  was  Makota,  ths 
prime  minister,  a  polite  and  gentlemanly  rascal,  and 
at  the  end  of  two  years  he  annoyed  Brooke  quite  seri- 
ously by  putting  arsenic  in  the  interpreter's  r  ce. 
Brooke  cleared  his  ship  for  action,  and  with  a  land- 
ing party  under  arms  marched  to  the  palac  "s.  In 
a  few  well-chosen  words  he  explained  Ivi  ^ta's  vil- 
lainy, showed  that  neither  the  rajah's  life  nor  his  own 
was  safe,  and  that  the  only  course  was  to  proclaim 
Brooke  as  governor. 

No  shot  was  fired,  no  blow  was  struck,  but  Makota's 
party  vanished,  the  villain  fled,  the  rajah  began  to  be- 
have, the  government  of  the  country  was  handed  over 
to  the  Englishman  amid  great  popular  rejoicmgs. 
"  My  darling  mother,"  he  wrote,  "  I  am  very  poor,  but 
I  want  some  things  from  home  very  much ;  so  I  must 
trust  to  your  being  rich  enough  to  aflford  them  to  me. 
Imprimis,  a  circle  for  taking  the  latitude;  secondly, 
an  electrifying  machine  of  good  power ;  thirdly,  a  large 
magic  lantern;   fourthly,  a  rifle  which  carries  fifty 


"il 


66 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


balls;  and  last,  a  peep-show.  The  circle  and  rifle  I 
want  very  much;  and  the  others  are  all  for  political 
purposes."  Did  ever  king  begin  his  reign  with  such 
an  act  as  that  letter? 

But  then,  look  at  the  government  he  replaced: 
"  The  sultan  and  his  chiefs  rob  all  classes  of  Malays 
to  the  utmost  of  their  power;  the  Malays  rob  the 
Dyaks,  and  the  Dyaks  hide  their  goods  as  much  as 
they  dare,  consistent  with  the  safety  of  their  wives 
and  children."  Brooke  found  his  private  income  a 
very  slender  fund  when  he  had  to  pay  the  whole  ex- 
pense of  governing  a'  kingdom  until  the  people  re- 
covered from  their  ruin. 

February  the  first,  1842,  a  pirate  chief  called  to 
make  treaty  with  the  new  king.  "  He  inquired,  if  a 
tribe  pirated  on  my  territory  what  I  intended  to  do. 
My  answer  was  'to  enter  their  country  and  lay  it 
waste.'  '  But,'  he  asked  me  again,  '  you  will  give  me 
—  your  friend  —  leave  to  steal  a  few  heads  occasion- 
ally?' 'No,'  I  replied,  'I  shiU  have  a  hundred 
Sakarran  heads  for"  every  one  you  take  here  I '  He 
recurred  to  this  request  several  times — 'just  to  steal 
one  or  two  I ' —  as  a  schoolboy  asks  for  apples." 

Brooke  used  to  give  the  pirates  his  laughing  per- 
mission to  go  to  Singapore  and  attack  the  English. 

"  The  Santah  River,"  he  wrote,  "  is  famous  for  its 
diamonds.  The  workers  seem  jealous  and  supersti- 
tious, disliking  noise,  particularly  laughter,  as  it  is 
highly  offensive  to  the  spirit  who  presides  over  the 
diamonds.  ...  A  Chinese  Mohammedan  with  the 
most  solemn  face  requested  me  to  give  him  an  old 
letter;  and  be  engraved  some  Chinese  characters, 
which,  being  transited  signify  '  Rajah  Muda  Hassim, 


I 


Sir  Jaxiks   ilKcHiKE 


RAJAH  BROOKE  <^ 

James  Brooke,  and  Hadju  Ibrahim  present  their  cMm 
ptmients  to  the  spirit  and  request  his  pennission  to 
work  at  the  mine.' " 

There  were  great  doings  when  the  sultan  of  Bor- 
.neo  had  Mr.  Brooke  proclaimed  king  in  Sarawak 
Then  he  went  oflF  to  the  Straits  Settlements,  where 
he  made   friends   with   Henry   Keppel,   captain   of 
H.  M.  S.  Dido,  a  sportsman  who  delighted  in  hlint- 
ing  pirates,  and  accepted  Brooke's  invitation  to  a  few 
days'    shooting.    Keppel    describes    the    scene    of 
Brooke's  return  to  his  kingdom,  received  by  all  the 
chiefs  with  undisguised  delight,  mingled  with  grati- 
tnde  and  respect  for  their  newly-elected  ruler.    "  The 
scene  was  both  novel  and  exciting,  presenting  to  us 
—  just  anchored  in  a  large  fresh  water  river,  and  sur- 
rounded  by  a  densely  wooded  jungle  — the  whole  sur- 
face of  the  water  covered  with  canoes  and  boato 
dressed  with  colored  silken  flags,  filled  with  natives 
beating  their  tom-twns,  and  playing  on  wind  instru- 
ment^ with  the  occasbnal  discharge  of  firearms.    To 
them  it  must  have  been  equally  striking  to  witness  the 
Dido  anchored  almost  in  the  center  of  their  town,  her 
mastheads  towering  above  the  highest  trees  of  that 
jungle,   the  loud   report   of  her   heavy   thirty-two- 
pounder  guns,  the  manning  aloft  to  furi  sails  of  one 
hundred  fifty  seamen  in  their  clean  white  dresses,  and 
with  the  band  playing.    I   was  anxious   that   Mr. 
Brooke  should  land  with  all  the  honors  due  to  so  im- 
portant a  personage,  which  he  accordingly  did,  under 
a  salute." 

It  was  a  little  awkward  that  the  Dido  struck  a  rock 
and  sank,  but  she  chose  a  convenient  spot  just  op- 
posite Mr.   Brooke's  house,   so  that   Brooke's  offi- 


68 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


cers  and  those  of  the  ship  formed  one  mess  there,  a 
band  of  brothers,  while  the  damage  was  being  re- 
paired. Then  came  the  promised  sport,  a  joint  boat 
expedition  up  all  sorts  of  queer  back  channels  and 
rivers  fculed  by  the  pirates  with  stakes  and  booms 
under  fire  of  the  artillery  in  their  hill  fortresses.  The 
sportsmen  burst  the  booms,  charged  the  hills,  stormed 
the  forts,  burned  out  the  pirates  and  obtained  their 
complete  submission.  Brooke  invited  them  all  to  a 
pirate  conference  at  his  house  and,  just  as  with  the 
land  rogues,  charmed  them  out  of  their  skins.  He 
fought  like  a  man,  but  his  greatest  victories  were 
scored  by  perfect  manners. 

The  next  adventure  was  a  visit  from  the  Arctic 
explorer,  Sir  Edward  Belcher,  sent  by  the  British  gov- 
ernment to  inspect  Brooke's  kingdom,  now  a  peaceful 
and  happy  country. 

Later  came  Admiral  Sir  Thomas  Cochrane  with  a 
s»,.  I/on  to  smash  up  a  few  more  pirates,  and  the 
smashing  of  pirates  continued  for  many  years  a  pop- 
ular sport  for  the  navy.  The  pirate  states  to  the 
northward  became  in  time  the  British  colonies  of 
Labuan,  and  North  Borneo,  but  Sarawak  is  still  a 
protected  Malay  state,  the  hereditary  kingdom  of 
Sir  James  Brooke  and  his  descendants.  May  that 
dynasty  reign  so  long  as  the  sun  shines. 


XI 

A.  D.  1S43 
THE  SPIES 


pROM  earliest  childhood  Eldred  Pottinger  was  ottt 
*  of  place  m  crowded  England.  Gunpowder  » 
good  excting  stuff  to  play  with,  and  there  ,^md  ^ 

brother  because  that  was  all  in  the  family  but  when 
he  m„ed  the  garden  waU  and  it  fell  on'a'^re  ^f 
neighbors,  they  highly  took  offense;  and  when  hi 
finely  invented  bomb  went  off  at  Addiscomb^  Colle« 
he  ,x,se  to  the  level  of  a  public  nuisance.    On  the  wK 

Scmde.  a  shrewd  man  who  shipped  young  Pottin«r 

M^ZZT '-'"' "''"'- '"  ^'^'^^^  P-" 

hoIilL^'f ''  '^'^''  ^  Afghanistan  was  the  usual 
howlwg  chaos   of  oriental  kingdoms,    ,nd   the  fuH 

Zt  S  ""  ^°"'"«''''  ^"''""*  *»  fi«d  out  Ld  r^ 
white  man  visiting  the  country  was  guaranteed  if 
«.d  when  found,  to  have  his  thr..«t  cut  B^g  SveV 
at  native  languages,  with  a  very  foxy  shrewdi^X 
69 


70 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


young  spy  set  off,  disguised  as  a  native  horse  dealer, 
and  reached  Cabul,  the  Afghan  capital. 

The  reigning  ameer  was  Dost  Mahomet,  who  was 
not  on  speal<ing  terms  with  Kamran,  king  of  Herat, 
and  Pottinger's  job  was  to  get  through  to  Herat  with- 
out being  caught  by  Dost.  The  horse-copper  disguise 
was  useless  now,  so  Pottinger  became  a  Mahomedan 
syed,  or  professional  holy  man.  He  sent  his  attend- 
ants and  horses  ahead,  slipped  out  of  the  capital  on 
foot  by  night  and  mhde  his  way  to  his  camp.  So  he 
reached  the  countr'  of  the  Hazareh  tribes  where  his 
whole  expedition  was  captured  by  the  principal  rob- 
ber Jakoob  Beg,  who  did  a  fairly  good  business  in 
selling  travelers,  as  slaves,  except  when  they  paid 
blackmail.  "The  chief,"  says  Pottinger,  "was  the 
finest  Hazareh  I  had  seen,  and  appeared  a  well-mean- 
ing, sensible  person.  He,  however,  was  quite  in  the 
hands  of  his  cousin  —  an  ill-favored,  sullen  and 
treacherous-looking  rascal.  I,  by  way  of  covering 
my  silence,  and  to  avoid  much  questioning,  took  to 
my  beads  and  kept  telling  them  with  great  persever- 
ance, much  to  the  increase  of  my  reputation  as  a  holy 
personage." 

The  trouble  was  that  Pottinger  and  his  devout  fol- 
lowers were  of  the  Sounee  faith,  whereas  the  robbet 
castle  was  of  the  Sheeah  persuasion.  The  difference 
was  something  like  that  between  our  Catholics  and 
Protestants,  and  Pottinger  was  like  a  Methodist  min- 
ister trying  to  pass  himself  off  for  a  cardinal  without 
knowing  the  little  points  of  etiquette.  The  prisoners 
prompted  one  another  ii  'o  all  sorts  of  ridiculous 
blunders,   so  that   the   il)  favor?4   sousin   suspected 


THE  SPIES  ji 

Pottinger  of  being  a  fraud.    "Why  he  may  be  a 
Fennghee  himself,"  !,aid  the  cousin.    "  I  have  always 
heard  that  the  Hindustanees  are  black,  and  this  man  is 
fairer  than  we  are."    But  then  the  Feringhees  -  the 
British  — were  supposed  to  be  monsters,  and  Pot- 
tinger was  in  no  way  monstrous  to  look  at,  so  that  he 
managed  to  talk  round  the  corner,  and  at  the  end  of 
a  week  ransomed  his  party  with  the  gift  of  a  fine  eun 
to  the  chief.    They   set  off  very  blithely   into  the 
mountains,  but  had  not  gone  far  when  the  chiefs 
riders  came  romping  in  pursuit,  and  herded  them  bac' 
presumably  to  have  their  throats  cut  according    . 
local   manners   and   customs.    The   chief,   it   turned 
out,  had  been  unable  to  make  the  gun  go  off,  but  find- 
ing It  worked  all  right  if  handled  properly  dismissed 
the  spy  with  his  blessing.    Eighteen  days'  journey 
brought  him  to  Herat,  where  he  felt  perfectly  safe 
strolling  unarmed  in  the  country  outside  the  walls' 
until  a  gang  of  slave  catchers  made  him  an  easy  prey' 
His  follower,  Synd  Ahmed,  scared  them  off  by  shout- 
ing to  an  imaginary  escort. 

Shah  Kamran  with  his  vider  Yar  Mahomed  had 
been  out  of  town,  but  on  their  return  to  Herat  Pot- 
tinger introduced  himself  to  the  king  as  a  British 
officer,  and  his  gift  of  a  brace  of  pistols  was 
graciously  accepted. 

Not  long  afterward  a  Persian  army  came  up 
against  Herat,  and  with  that  force  there  were  Rus- 
sian officers.  For  once  the  Heratis  could  look  for 
no  help  from  Afghanistan;  and  for  once  this  mighty 
fortress,  the  key  to  the  gates  of  India,  was  guarded 
by  a  cur.    If  Herat  fell  the  way  was  open  for  Russia 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


the  ancient  road  to  India  of  all  the  conquerors. 
There  is  the  reason  why  the  British  had  sent  a  spy 
to  Herat. 

The  Heratis  were  quick  to  seek  the  advice  of  the 
British  ofKcer  who  organized  the  defense  and  in  the 
'end  took  charge,  the  one  competent  man  in  the  garri- 
son. Shah  Kamran  sent  him  with  a  flag  of  truce  to 
the  Persian  army.  The  Persian  soldiers  hailed  him 
with  rapture,  thinking  they  would  soon  get  home  to 
their  wives  and  families;  they  patted  his  legs,  they 
caressed  his  horse,  they  shouted  "  Bravo  I  Bravo  I 
Welcome  1  The  English  were  always  friends  of  the 
king  of  kings !  " 

So  Pottinger  was  brought  before  the  shah  of 
Persia,  who  would  accept  no  terms  except  surrender, 
which  the  Englishman  ridiculed.  He  went  back  to 
the  city,  and  the  siege  went  on  for  months. 

A  shell  burst  the  house  next  door  to  his  quarters, 
but  he  took  no  harm.  One  day  he  leaned  against  a 
loophole  in  the  ramparts,  watching  a  Persian  attempt 
to  spring  a  mine,  and  as  he  moved  away  his  place  was 
taken  by  a  eunuch  who  at  once  got  a  ball  in  the 
lungs.    He  had  narrow  escapes  without  end. 

At  the  end  of  six  months,  June  twenty-fourth,  1838, 
the  Persians  tried  to  carry  the  place  by  assault.  "  At 
four  points  the  assault  was  repulsed,  but  at  the  fifth 
point  the  storming  column  threw  itself  into  the  trench 
of  the  lower  fausse-braye.  The  struggle  was  brief  but 
bloody.  The  defenders  fell  at  their  posts  to  a  man, 
and  the  work  was  carried  by  the  besiegers.  En- 
couraged by  this  first  success,  the  storming  party 
pushed  on  up  the  slope,  but  a  galling  fire  from  the 
garrison  met  them  as  they  advanced.    The  officers 


THE  SPIES 


73 


and  men  of  the  column  were  movm  down ;  there  was 
a  second  brief  and  bloody  struggle,  and  the  upper 
fausse-braye  was  carried,  while  a  few  of  the  most 
daring  of  the  assaUants,  pushing  on  in  advance  of 
then-  comrades,  gained  the  head  of  the  breach.  But 
now  Deen  Mahomed  came  down  with  the  Afghan 
reserve,  and  thus  recruited  the  defenders  gathered 
new  heart,  so  that  the  Persians  in  the  breach  were 
driven  back.  Again  cind  again  with  desperate  courage 
they  struggled  to  effect  a  lodgment,  only  to  be  re- 
pulsed and  thrown  back  in  confusion  upon  their  com- 
rades who  were  pressing  on  behind.  The  conflict 
was  fierce,  the  issue  doubtful.  Now  the  breach  was 
well-nigh  carried;  and  now  the  stormers,  recoiling 
from  the  shock  of  the  defense,  fell  back  upon  the  ex- 
tenor  slope  of  the  fausse-braye. 

"  Startled  by  the  noise  of  the  assault  Yar  Mahomed 
(the  vizier)  had  risen  up,  left  his  quarters,  and  ridden 
down  to  the  works.  Pottinger  went  forth  at  the  same 
time  and  on  the  same  errand.  Giving  instructions  to 
his  dependents  to  be  carried  out  in  the  event  of  his 
falling  m  the  defense,  he  hastened  to  join  the  vizier. 
.  .  .  As  they  neared  the  point  of  the  attack  the 
garrison  were  seen  retreating  by  twos  and  threes; 
others  were  quitting  the  works  on  the  pretext  of 

carrying  off  the  wounded Pottinger  was  eager 

to  push  on  to  the  breach;  Yar  Mahomed  sat  himself 
down.  The  vizier  had  lost  heart;  his  wonted  high 
courage  and  coUectedness  had  deserted  him.  As- 
tonished and  indignant  ...  the  English  officer  called 
upon  the  vizier  again  and  again  to  rouse  himself, 
ihe  Afghan  chief  rose  up  and  advanced  further 
mto  the  works,  and  neared  the  breach  where  the  con- 


74 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


flict  was  raging.  .  .  .  Yar  Mahomed  called  upon  his 
men  in  God's  name  to  fight;  but  they  wavered  and- 
stood  still.  Then  his  heart  failed  him  again.  He 
turned  back,  said  he  would  go  for  aid.  .  .  .  Alarmed 
by  the  backwardness  of  their  chief  the  men  were  now 
retreating  in  every  direction."    Pottinger  swore. 

Yar  roused  himself,  again  advanced,  but  again 
wavered,  and  a  third  time  Pottinger  by  word  and  deed 
put  him  to  shame.  "  He  reviled,  he  threatened,  he 
seized  him  by  the  arm  and  dragged  him  forward  to 
the  breach."  Now  cdmes  the  fun,  and  we  can  for- 
sake the  tedious  language  of  the  official  version. 
Yar,  hounded  to  desperation  by  Pottinger,  seized  a 
stafif,  rushed  like  a  wildcat  on  the  retreating  soldiers, 
and  so  horrified  them  that  they  bolted  back  over  the 
breach  down  the  outside  into  the  face  of  the  Persians. 
And  the  Persians  fled  I    Herat  was  saved. 

An  envoy  came  from  the  Persian  army  to  explain 
that  it  was  infamous  of  the  Shah  Kamran  to  have  an 
infidel  in  charge  of  the  defense.  "Give  him  up," 
said  the  Persians,  "and  we'll  raise  the  siege."  But 
the  shah  was  not  in  a  position  to  surrender  Pottinger. 
That  gentleman  might  take  it  into  his  head  to  sur- 
render the  shah  of  Herat. 

Another  six  months  of  siege,  with  famine,  mutiny 
and  all  the  usual  worries  of  beleaguered  towns  finished 
Pottinger's  work,  the  saving  of  Herat. 

II 
Now  we  take  up  the  life  of  another  spy,  also  an 
army    ofiicer,    old    Alexander    Bumes.    At    eight- 
een he  had  been  adjutant  of  his  regiment  and  rose 
very  steadily  irom  rank  to  rank  until  he  was  sent  as 


THE  SPIES 


75 


an  envoy  to  Runjeet  Singh,  the  ruler  of  Punjab,  and 
to  the  ameers  of  Scinde.  I„  those  days  Northwe"t- 
e  n  I„d,a  was  an  unknown  region  and  Bumes  was 
pioneer  of  the  British  power 

AfihaSn'''  p'^r  ""  ^''  '^=°"<'  ""'^^-^n  through 
Istambou.    (Consuntinoplt    t  X  "^.^^ 

and  s.nce  I  came  into  Cabul  has  been  changed  to  that 
of   the  lowest  orders  of  the  people.    My   head   is 

grieves  .  .  for  the  departed  beauty  of  youth  I 
now  eat  my  meals  with  my  hands,  and  greaT  digits 
t'rblrraS/ftriaT  "  -/f-vfl 

rrerh^h^^^^?'^"'-^— Sot^^ 

vantSs  t^  i  T  ^'*  ^"""'^  '•'^  '=''^r««er  ad- 

the  name  of  7.u"l°'^-  J'"  ^^"P"^  ''"°-  -=  ^y 
AlLnTer.r^'ttra'irmf  '^  ''V'"''"  ^- 
have  a  bag  of  du^rou^L  7y  w^^d  bX S  a! 
much  money  as  I  choose  to  draw  .  .  .  Whe„  i  ™ 
mto  company  I  put  my  hand  on  my  h^art  anH  / 
with  all  humility  to  the' master  of  2  '?,;.  '  Je  ^c^ 

rnvselfH  "'  '"°'.'''"«  '"^  '="^*°-"'  ="d  then  I  Iq"" 
myself  down  on  the  ground.  This  familiarity  has 
g.ven  me  an  msight  into  the  character  pf  the  peo^ 


I 


91 


j6  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

kind-hearted  and  hospitable,  they  have  no  prej- 
udices against  a  Christian  and  none  against  our  nation. 
When  they  ask  me  if  I  eat  pork,  I  of  coursr  shudder, 
and  say  that  it  is  only  outcasts  that  commit  such  out- 
rages. God  forgive  me  I  for  I  am  very  fond  of  bacon. 
...  I  am  well  mounted  on  a  good  horse  in  case  I 
should  find  it  necessary  to  take  to  my  heels.  My 
whole  baggage  on  earth  goes  on  one  mule,  which  my 
servant  sits  supercargp.  ...  I  never  was  in  better 

spirits." 

After  his  wonderful  journey  Burnes  was  sent  to 
England  to  make  his  report  to  the  government,  and 
King  William  IV  must  needs  hear  the  whole  of  the 
story  at  Brighton  pavilion. 

The  third  journey  of  this  great  spy  was  called  the 
commercial  mission  to  Cabul.  There  he  learned  that 
the  Persian  siege  of  Herat  was  being  more  or  less 
conducted  by  Russian  officers.  Russians  swarmed 
at  the  court  of  Dost  Mahomed,  and  an  ambassador 
from  the  czar  was  there  trying  to  make  a  treaty. 

Great  was  the  indignation  and  alarm  in  British 
India,  and  for  fear  of  a  Russian  invasion  in  panic 
haste  the  government  made  a  big  famous  blunder, 
for  without  waiting  to  know  how  Dost  was  foohng 
the  Russians,  an  army  was  sent  through  the  terrible 
Bolan  Pass.  That  sixty-mile  abyss  with  hang- 
ing walls  belongs  to  the  Pathans,  the  fiercest  and 
wUdest  of  all  the  tribes  of  men.  The  army  climbed 
through  thp  death  trap,  marched,  starving,  on  from 
Quetta  to  Candahar  and  then  advanced  on  Cabul. 
But  Dost's  son  Akbar  held  the  great  fortress  of 
Ghuznee,  a  quite  impregnable  place  that  had  to  be 
taken. 


THE  SPIES 


77 


One  night  while  a  sham  attack  was  made  on  the 
other  side  of  the  fortress,  Captain  Thomson  placed 
nine  hundred  pounds  of  gunpowder  at  the  foot  of 
a  walled-up  gate,  and  then  touched  off  the  charge 
The  twenty-first  light  infantry  climbed  over  the  smok- 
ing ruins  and  at  the  head  of  his  storming  column 
Colonel  Denme,  m  three  hours'  fighting,  took  the  cita- 
del Dost  Mahomed  fled,  and  the  British  entered 
Cabul  to  put  a  puppet  sovereign  on  the  throne. 
Cabul  was  a  live  volcano  where  English  women 

^'^\  '^t  '^''"*  "^"^  "''^''et  matches,  theatricals, 
sports.  The  governor-general  in  ci.np  gave  a  state 
dinner  m  honor  of  Major  Pottinger,  who  had  come 
m  from  the  siege  of  Herat.  During  the  reception 
of  the  guests  a  shabby  Afghan  watched,  leaning 
against  a  door-post,  and  the  court  officials  were  about 
to  remove  this  intruder  when  the  governor-general 
approached  leading  his  sister.  «Ut  me  present 
you,  said  I^rd  Auckland,  "to  Eldred  Pottinger.  the 
hero  of  Herat."  This  shabby  Afghan  was  the  guest 
of  honor,  but  nobody  would  listen  to  his  warnings 
or  to  the  warnings  of  Sir  Alexander  Bumes.  assist- 
ant resident.  Duly  the  two  spies  knew  what  was  to 
come.    Then  the  volcano  blew  up. 

Bumes  had  a  brother  staying  with  him  in  Cabul 
also  his  military  secretary;  and  when  the  mob 
savage,  excited,  bent  on  massacre,  swarmed  round 
his  house  he  spoke  to  them  from  the  balcony.  While 
he  talked  Lieutenant  Broadfoot  fell  at  his  side, 
struck  by  a  ball  in  the  chest.  The  stables  were  on 
fire,  the  mob  filled  his  garden.  He  offered  to  pay 
Aen  m  cash  for  his  brother's  life  and  his  own,  so  a 
Ushmiri  volunteered  to  save  them  in  disguise.    They 


78 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


put  on  native  clothes,  they  slipped  into  the  garden, 
and  then  their  guide  shouted,  "This  is  Sekunder 
Burnes! "    The  two  brothers  were  cut  to  pij-ces. 

Pottinger  was  political  agent  at  Kohistan  to  the 
northward,  and  when  the  whole  Afghan  nation  rose 
in  revolt  his  fort  was  so  sorely  beset  that  he  and  his 
retinue  stole  away  in  the  dark,  joining  a  Ghoorka 
regiment.  But  the  regiment  was  also  beset,  and  its 
water  supply  cut  off.  Pottinger  fought  the  guns ;  the 
men  repelled  attacks  by  night  and  day  until  worn  out; 
dying  of  thirst  in  an  intolerable  agony  the  regiment 
broke,  scattering  into  the  hills.  Only  a  few  men 
rallied  round  Pottinger  to  fight  through  to  Cabul, 
and  he  was  fearfully  wounded,  unable  to  command. 
Of  his  staff  and  the  Ghoorka  regiment  only  five  men 
were  alive  when  they  entered  Cabul. 

Our  officer  commanding  at  Cabul  was  not  in  good 
health,  but  his  death  was  unfortunately  delayed  while 
the  Afghans  murdered  men,  women  and  children,  and 
the  British  troops,  for  lack  of  a  leader,  funked.  En- 
voys waited  on  Al:bar  Khan,  aud  were  murdered. 
The  few  officers  who  kept  their  heads  were  without 
authority,  blocked  at  every  turn  by  cowards,  by  in- 
competents. Then  the  council  of  war  made  treaty 
with  Akbar,  giving  him  all  the  guns  except  six,  all  the 
treasure,  three  officers  as  hostages,  bills  drawn  <mi 
India  for  forty  thousand  rupees,  the  honor  of  their 
country,  everything  for  safe  conduct  in  their  disgrace. 
Dying  of  cold  and  hunger,  the  force  marched  into  the 
Khoord-Cabul  Pass,  and  at  the  end  of  three  days  the 
married  officers  were  surrendered  with  their  wives 
and  children.  Of  the  sixteen  thousand  men  three- 
fourths  were  dead  when  the  officer  commandir »  and 


THE  SPIES  79 

ta«fl'"l!"^'^l\'  ^'''"°"  *"'  eiy^  "P  "'  hos- 
hf  T  ^^,  '^  ^^^  '""^'^"^  P^^l^'d  on  through 
the  JugduluV  Pass,  which  the  Afghans  had  barri- 
caded,  and  there  was  the  final  massacre.  Of  the 
whole  army,  one  man.  Doctor  Brydon,  on  a  starved 
pony,  sinking  with  exhaustion,  rode  in  through  the 
gates  of  Fort  Jelb.labad. 

The  captured  general  had  sent  orders  for  the  re- 
iT  .^^^  Jellalabad  garrison  through  the  awful 
defiles  of  the  Khyber  Pass  in  face  of  a  hostile  armj 
and  m  the  dead  of  winter;  but  General  Sale,  com- 
manding, was  not  such  a  fool.  For  three  months  he 
had  worked  his  men  to  desperation  rebuilding  the 
fortress,  and  now  when  he  saw  the  white  tents  of 
Akbar  s  camp  he  was  prepared  for  a  siege.  That  day 
an  earthquake  razed  the  whole  fortress  into  a  heap 
of  ruins,  but  the  garrison  rebuilt  the  walls.  Then 
they  sallied  and.  led  by  Henry  Havelock.  assaulted 
Akbar  s  camp,  smashed  his  army  to  flying  fragments 

a^f^  ''m-^"J'  '^^^^*'  ''-dards,'ammS 
and  food.  Nme  days  later  the  bands  of  the  garrison 
marched  out  to  meet  a  relieving  army  from  India. 
They  were  playing  an  old  tune.  Oh.  but  ye've  been 
long  o   comtn'. 

Meanwhile  the  British  prisoners,  well  treated,  were 
hurried  from  fort  to  fort,  with  some  idea  of  holding 
them  for  sale  at  so  much  a  slave,  until  they  managed 
to  bribe  an  Afghan  chief.  The  bribed  man  led  a 
revolt  against  Akbar,  and  one  chief  after  another 
iu"  .  '^'  r'^'"e  °n  the  Koran  allegiance  to 
Eldred  Pottinger.  When  Akbar  fell,  Pottinger 
marched  as  leader  of  the  revolted  chiefs  on  the  way 
to  Cabul.    One  day,  as  the  ladies  and  children  w^r^ 


f 


"I  1 


8o 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


resting  in  an  old  fort  for  shelter  during  the  great  heat 
of  the  afternoon,  they  heard  the  tramp  of  horsemen, 
and  in  the  dead  silence  of  a  joy  and  gratitude  too 
great  for  utterance,  received  the  relieving  force. 


xn 

A.  D.  1842 
A  YEAR'S  ADVENTURES 

A  THOUSAND  adventures  are  taking  place  every 
-*  *■  day,  all  at  once  in  the  several  continents  and  the 
many  seas.  A  few  are  reported,  many  are  noted  in 
the  private  journals  of  adventurers,  most  of  them  are 
just  taken  as  a  matter  of  course  in  the  day's  work 
but  nobody  has  ever  attempted  to  make  a  picture  of 
all  the  world's  adventures  for  a  day  or  a  year. 

Let  us  make  magic.  Any  date  will  do.  or  any  year. 
Here  for  mstance  is  a  date  — the  twelfth  of  Septem- 
ber, 1842  —  that  will  serve  our  purpose  as  well  as  any 
other.  ' 

In  Afghanistan  a  British  force  of  twenty-six 
thousand  people  had  perished,  an  army  of  vengeance 
had  marched  to  the  rescue  of  Major  Pottinger,  Udy 
bale,  Lady  McNaughton  and  other  captives  held  by 
the  Afghan  chiefs.  On  September  twelfth  they  were 
rescued.  ' 

In  aina  the  people  had  refused  to  buy  our  Indian 
opium,  so  we  carefully  and  methodically  bombarded 
all  Chinese  seaports  until  she  consented  to  open  them 
to  foreign  trade.  Then  Major  Pottinger's  uncle.  Sir 
ntnry,  made  a  treaty  which  the  Chinese  emperor 
signed  on  September  eighth. 
81 


83 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


In  the  Malacca  Straits  Captain  Henry  Keppel  of 
H.  M.  S.  Dido  was  busy  smashing  up  pirates. 

In  Tahiti  poor  little  Queen  Pomare,  being  in  child- 
bed, was  so  bullied  by  the  French  admiral  that  she 
surrendered  her  kingdom  to  France  on  Seplember 
ninth.  Next  morning  her  child  was  bom,  but  her 
kingdom  was  gone  forever. 

In  South  Africa  Captain  Smith  made  a  disgraceful 
attack  upon  the  Boers  at  Port  Natal,  and  on  June 
twenty-sixth  they  got  ^  tremendous  thrashing  which 
put  an  end  to  the  republic  of  Natalia.  In  September 
they  began  to  settle  down  as  British  subjects,  not  at  all 
content. 

Norfolk  Island  is  a  scrap  of  paradise,  about  six 
miles  by  four,  lying  nine  hundred  miles  f rwn  Sydney, 
in  Australia.  In  1843  it  was  a  convict  settlement, 
and  on  June  twenty-first  the  brig  Governor  Philip 
was  to  sail  for  Sydney,  having  landed  her  stores  at 
the  island.  During  the  night  she  stood  off  and  on, 
and  two  prisoners  coming  on  deck  at  dawn  for  a 
breath  of  air  noticed  that  discipline  seemed  slack, 
although  a  couple  of  drowsy  sentries  guarded  their 
hatchway.  Within  a  few  minutes  the  prisoners  wt'e 
all  on  deck.  One  sentry  was  disarmed,  the  other 
thrown  overboard.  Two  soldiers  off  duty  had  a 
scuffle  with  the  mutineers,  but  one  took  refuge  in  the 
main  chains,  while  the  other  was  drowned  trying  to 
swim  ashore.  The  sergeant  in  charge  ran  on  deck 
and  shot  a  mutineer  before  he  was  knocked  over, 
stunned.  As  to  the  seamen,  they  ran  into  the  fore- 
castle. 

The  prisoners  had  now  control  of  the  ship,  but 
none  of  them  knew  how  to  handle  their  prize,  so  they 


A  YEAR'S  ADVENTURES 


83 


loosed  a  couple  of  sailors  and  raade  them  help. 
Woolfe,  one  of  the  convicts,  then  rescued  a  soldier 
who  was  swimming  alongside.  The  officers  and 
soldiers  aft  were  firing  through  the  grated  hatches  and 
wounded  several  convicts,  until  they  were  allayed 
with  a  kettle  of  boiling  water.  So  far  the  mutiny  had 
gone  off  very  nicely,  but  now  the  captain,  perched  on 
the  cabin  table,  fired  through  the  woodwork  at  a 
point  where  he  thought  a  man  was  standing.  By  luck 
the  bullet  went  through  the  ringleader's  mouth  and 
blew  out  the  back  of  his  head,  whereon  a  panic 
seized  the  mutineers,  who  fled  below  hatches.  The 
sailor  at  the  wheel  released  the  captain,  and  the  after- 
guard recaptured  the  ship.  One  mutineer  had  his 
head  blown  off,  and  the  rest  surrendered.  The  whole 
deck  was  littered  with  the  wounded  and  the  dying 
and  the  dead,  and  there  were  not  many  convicts  left. 
In  the  trial  at  Sydney,  Wheelan,  who  proved  innocent, 
was  spared,  also  Woolfe  for  saving  a  soldier's  life, 
but  four  were  hanged,  meeting  their  fate  like  men. 

It  was  in  August  that  the  sultan  of  Borneo  con- 
firmed Mr.  James  Brooke  as  rajah  of  Sarawak,  and 
the  new  king  was  extremely  busy  executing  robbers, 
rescuing  shipwrecked  mariners  from  slavery,  reopen- 
ing old  mines  for  diamonds,  gold  and  manganese. 
"  I  breathe  peace  and  comfort  to  all  who  obey,"  so 
he  wrote  to  his  mother,  "  and  wrath  and  fury  to  the 
evil-doer." 


Iii! 


Captain  Ross  was  in  the  Antarctic,  coasting  the 
great  ice  barrier.  Last  year  he  had  given  to  two  tall 
volcanoes  the  names  of  his  ships,  the  Erebus  and  Ter- 
ror.    This  year  on  March  twelfth  in  a  terrific  gale 


!      :•);< 


I. 


•4  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

with  blinding  snow  at  midnight  the  two  shipi  tried  to 
get  shelter  unf'"--  the  lee  of  an  iceberg,  but  the  Ttrror 
rammed  the  x^rc  us  to  that  her  bow-sprit,  fore  top- 
mast and  a  lot  of  smaller  spars  were  carried  away, 
and  she  was  jammed  against  the  wall  of  the  berg 
totally  disabled.  She  could  not  make  sail  and  had  no 
room  to  wear  round,  so  she  sailed  out  backward,  one 
of  the  grandest  feats  of  seamanship  on  record ;  then, 
clear  of  the  danger,  steered  between  two  bergs,  her 
yard-ams  almost  scraping  both  of  them,  until  she 
gained  the  smoother  water  to  leeward,  where  she 
found  her  consort. 

In  Canada  the  British  governor  set  up  a  friend- 
ship between  the  French  Canadians  and  our  govern- 
ment which  has  lasted  ever  since.  That  was  on  the 
eighth  of  September,  but  on  the  fifth  another  British 
dignitary  sailed  for  home,  having  generously  given  a 
large  slice  of  Canada  to  the  United  States. 

In  Hayti  there  was  an  earthquake,  in  Brazil  a  revo- 
lution; in  Jamaica  a  stom  on  the  tenth  which 
wrecked  H.  M.  S.  Spitfire,  and  in  the  western  states 
Mount  Saint  Helen's  gave  a  fine  volcanic  eruption. 

Northern  Mexico  was  invaded  by  two  filibustering 
expeditions  from  the  republic  of  Texas,  and  both  were 
captured  by  the  Mexicans.  There  were  eight  hundred 
fifty  prisoners,  some  murdered  for  fun,  the  rest 
marched  through  Mexico  exposed  to  all  sorts  of 
cruelty  and  insult  before  they  were  lodged  in  pesti- 
lence-ridden jails.  Captain  Edwin  Cameron  and  his 
people  on  the  way  to  prison  overpowered  the  escort 
and  fled  to  the  mount;  .ins,  whence  some  of  them 
escaped  to  Texas.    But  the  leader  and  most  of  his 


■'( 


A  YEAR'S  ADVENTURES  85 

men  being  captured,  President  Santa  Ana  arranged 
that  they  should  draw  from  a  bag  of  beans,  those  who 
got  black  beans  to  be  shot  Cameron  drew  a  white 
bean,  but  was  shot  all  the  same.  One  youth,  G.  B. 
Crittenden,  drew  a  white  bean,  but  gave  it  to  a  com- 
rade saying,  "You  have  a  wife  and  children;  I 
haven't,  and  I  can  afford  to  risk  another  chance." 
Again  he  drew  white  and  lived  to  be  a  general  m  the 
great  Civil  War. 

General  Green's  party  escaped  by  tunneling  their 
way  out  of  the  castle  of  Perot,  but  most  of  the 
prisoners  perished  in  prison  of  hunger  and  disease. 
The  British  and  American  ministers  at  the  City  of 
Mexico  won  the  release  of  the  few  who  were  left 
alive. 

In  1842  Sir  James  Simpson,  Governor  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  with  his  bell-topper  hat  and  his 
band,  came  by  canoe  across  the  northern  wilds  to  the 
Pacific  Coast.  From  San  Francisco  he  sailed  for 
Honolulu  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  where  the  com- 
pany had  a  large  establishment  under  Sir  John  Petty. 
On  April  sixte-nth  he  arrived  in  the  H.  B.  ship  Cow- 
lit*  at  t*' '  capital  of  Russian  America.  "  Of  all  the 
drunken  as  well  as  the  dirty  places,"  says  he,  "  that  I 
had  ever  visited.  New  Archangel  was  the  worst.  On 
the  holidays  in  particular,  of  which,  Sundays  in- 
cluded, there  are  one  hundred  sixty-five  in  the  year, 
men,  women  and  even  children  were  to  be  seen 
staggering  about  in  all  directions  drunk."  Simpson 
thought  all  the  world,  though,  of  the  Russian  bishop. 
The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  a  lease  from  the 
Russians  of  all  the  fur-trading  forts  of  Southeastern 


86 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


V 


! 

! 

j 


Alaska,  and  one  of  these  was  the  Redoubt  Saint 
Diogenes.  There  Simpson  found  a  flag  of  distress, 
gates  barred,  sentries  on  the  bastions  and  two  thou- 
sand Indians  besieging  the  fort.  Five  days  ago  the 
officer  commanding,  Mr.  McLoughlin,  had  made  all 
hands  drunk  and  ran  about  saying  he  was  going  to  be 
killed.  So  one  of  the  voyagers  leveled  a  rifle  and 
shot  him  dead.  On  the  whole  the  place  was  not  well 
managed. 

From  New  Archangel  (Sitka)  the  Russian 
Lieutenant  Zagoskin  sailed  in  June  for  the  Redoubt 
Saint  Michael  on  the  coast  of  Behring  Sea.  Smallpox 
had  wiped  out  all  the  local  Eskimos,  so  the  Russian 
could  get  no  guide  for  the  first  attempt  to  explore 
the  river  Yukon.  A  day's  march  south  he  was 
entertained  at  an  Eskimo  camp  where  there  was  a 
feast,  and  the  throwing  of  little  bladders  into  the  bay 
in  honor  of  Ug-iak,  spirit  of  the  sea.  On  Decem- 
ber ninth  Zagoskin  started  inland  — "  A  driving  snow- 
storm set  in  blinding  my  eyes  ...  a  blade  of  grass 
seventy  feet  distant  had  the  appearance  of  a  shrub,  and 
sloping  valleys  looked  like  lakes  with  high  banks,  the 
illusion  vanishing  upon  nearer  approach.  At  mid- 
night a  terrible  snow-storm  began,  and  in  the  short 
space  of  ten  minutes  covered  men,  dogs  and  sledges, 
making  a  perfect  hill  above  them.  We  sat  at  the  foot 
of  a  hill  with  the  wind  from  the  opposite  side  and 
our  feet  drawn  under  us  to  prevent  them  from  freer- 
ing,  and  covered  with  our  parkas.  When  we  were 
covered  up  by  the  snow  we  made  holes  with  sticks 
through  to  the  open  air.  In  a  short  time  the  warmth 
of  the  brcaft  and  perspiration  melted  the  snow,  so 
that  a  man-like  cave  was  formed  about  each  individ- 
ual."   So  they  C0Btinu«4  for  $v^  hours,  calling  to 


A  YEAR'S  ADVENTURES  87 

one  another  to  keep  awake,  for  in  that  intense  cold  to 
sleep  was  death.  There  we  may  as  well  leave  them 
before  we  catch  cold  from  the  draft.  ' 

Fremont  was  exploring  from  the  Mississippi  Valley 
climb  H    r  TT"''  '"  °'^«°"'  -'^  '"  tha'ioumey 

onfof  th%  °^  '  ''°""'''"''  *°  P'''"'  O'*'  GiorTon 
one  of  the  highest  peaks.    He  was  a  very  fin7ex- 

c  n  sLroVr  r'r  •'''""^^''  -nqueredThe  Me!:^. 
can  state  of  Cahfomia.  completing  the  outline  of  the 


XIII 

A.D.  1843 

KIT  CARSON 

ONCE  Colonel  Inman,  an  old  frontiersman,  bought 
a  newspaper  which  had  a  full  page  picture  of 
Kit  Carson.  The  hero  stood  in  a  forest,  a  gigantic 
figure  in  a  buckskin  suit,  heavily  armed,  embracing  a 
rescued  heroine,  while  at  his  feet  sprawled  six  slain 
Indian  braves,  his  latest  victims. 

"What  do  you  think  of  this?"  said  the  colonel 
handing  the  picture  to  a  delicate  little  man,  who 
wiped  his  spectacles,  studied  the  work  of  art,  and  re- 
plied in  a  gentle  drawl,  "  That  may  be  true,  but  I 
hain't  got  no  recollection  of  it."  And  so  Kit  Carson 
handed  the  picture  back. 

He  stood  five  feet  six,  and  looked  frail,  but  his 
countrymen,  and  all  the  boys  of  all  the  world  think 
of  this  mighty  frontiersman  as  a  giant. 

At  seventeen  he  was  a  remarkably  green  and  in- 
nocei.t  boy  for  his  years,  his  home  a  log  cabin  on  the 
Missouri  frontier.  Past  the  door  ran  the  trail  to 
the  west  where  trappers  went  by  in  buckskin,  traders 
among  the  Indians,  and  soldiers  for  the  savage  wars 
of  the  plains. 

One  day  came  Colonel  S.  Vrain,  agent  of  a  big  fur- 
trading  company,  with  his  long  train  of  wagons  hit- 


KIT  CARSON 


89 


ting  the  Santa  Fe  trail.  Kit  got  a  job  with  that  train 
to  herd  spare  stoclc,  hunt  bison,  mount  guard  and 
fight  Indians.  They  were  three  weeks  out  in  camp 
when  half  a  dozen  Pawnee  Indians  charged,  yeUine 
and  wavmg  robes  to  sumpede  the  herd  but  a  brisk 
fusdlade  from  the  white  men  sent  them  scampering 

mile  r".'i'   """'t'      ""^"^  '"'^'  ^''"  -  ^-^ 
ni.le  march  the  outfit  corraled  their  wagons  for  de- 
fense   at    the    foot    of    Pawnee    Rock    beside    the 
Arkansas  R.ver.    "I  had  not  slept  any  of  the  night 
before,    says  K.t,  "for  I  stayed  awake  watching  to 
get  a  shot  at  the  Pawnees  that  tried  to  stampede  our 
animals,  expecting  they  would  return;  and  I  hadn't 
caught  a  wink  all  day.  as  I  was  out  buffalo  hunting 
so  I  was  awfully  tired  and  sleepy  when  we  arrived 
a   Pawnee  Rock  that  evening,  and  when  I  was  posted 
at  my  place  at  mght,  I  must  have  gone  to  sleep  lean- 
ing agamst  the  rocks;  at  any  rate,  I  was  wide  enough 
awake  when  the  cry  of  Indians  was  given  by  one  of 
the  guard.    I  had  picketed  my  mule  about  twenty 

fvTn?  a"""  ^^T.  ^  ''°°^'  ^"'^  ^  P^^'"™«  he  had  been 
lying  down;  all  I  remember  is,  that  the  first  thine  I 
saw  after  the  alarm  was  something  rising  up  out  of 
the  grass,  which  I  thought  was  an  Indian.     I  pulled 

LlJf^"',"  ^^V  ""'"^  ^'^°*'  «"d  I  don't  be- 
lieve the  mule  ever  kicked  after  he  was  hit! " 

At  daylight  the  Pawnees  attacked  in  earnest  and 

Jhe  nght  lasted  nearly  three  days,  the  mule  teams 

being  shut  m  the  corral  without  food  or  water     At 

midnight  of  the  second  day  they  hitched  up,  fighting 

fordmg  Pawnee  Fork  while  the  Indians  poured  lead 
and  arrows  mto  the  teams  until  the  colonel  and  Kit 


90  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Carson  led  a  terrific  charge  which  dispersed  the 
enemy.  That  fight  cost  the  train  four  kiUed  and 
seven  wounded. 

It  was  during  this  first  trip  that  Carson  saved  the 
life  of  a  wounded  teamster  by  cutting  oflf  his  arm. 
With  a  razor  he  cut  the  flesh,  with  a  saw  got  through 
the  bone,  and  with  a  white-hot  king-bolt  seared  the 
wound,  stopping  the  flow  of  blood. 

In  1835  Carson  was  hunter  for  Bent's  Fort,  keep- 
ing the  garrison  of  forty  men  supplied  with  buffalo 
meat.    Once  he  was  out  hunting  with  six  others  and 
they  made  their  camp  tired  out.    "  I  saw,"  says  Kit, 
"  two  big  wolves  sneaking  about,  one  of  them  quitt 
close  to  us.    Gordon,  one  of  my  men,  wanted  to  fire 
his  rifle  at  it,  but  I  would  not  let  him  for  fear  he 
would  hit  a  dog.    I  admit  that  I  had  a  sort  of  idea 
that  these  wolves  might  be  Indians;  but  when  I  no- 
ticed one  of  them  turn  short  around  and  heard  the 
clashing  of  his  teeth  as  he  rushed  at  one  of  the  dogs, 
I   felt  easy  then,  and  was  certain  that  they  were 
wolves  sure  enough.    But  the  red  devil  fooled  me 
after  all,  for  he  had  two  dried  buffalo  bones  in  his 
hands  under  the  wolf-skin  and  he  rattled  them  to- 
gether every  time  he  turned  to  make  a  dash  at  the 
dogsl    Well,  by  and  by  we   all  dozed  off,   and   it 
wasn't  long  before  I  was  suddenly  aroused  by  a  noise 
and  a  big  blaze.    I  rushed  out  the  first  thing  for  our 
mules  and  held  them.    If  the  savages  had  been  at  all 
smart,  they  could  have  killed  us  in  a  trice,  but  they 
ran  as  soon  as  they  fired  at  us.    They  killed  one  of 
my  men,  putting  five  shots  in  his  body  and  eight  m 
his    buffalo    robe.    The    Indians    were    a    band    of 
snakes,  and  found  us  by  sheer  accident.    They  en- 


KIT  CARSON 


91^ 


deavored  to  ambush  us  the  next  morning,  but  we  got 
wind  of  their  little  game  and  killed  three  of  them, 
including  the  chief." 

It  was  in  his  eight  years  as  hunter  for  Bent's  Fort 
that  Kit  learned  to  know  the  Indians,  visiting  their 
camps  to  smoke  with  the  chiefs  and  play  with  the 
little  boy'"  When  the  Sioux  nation  invaded  the  Co- 
manche and  Arrapaho  hunting-grounds  he  persuaded 
them  to  go  north,  and  so  averted  war. 

In  1842-  when  he  was  scout  to  Fremont,  he  went 
buffalo  hunting  to  get  meat  for  the  command.  One 
day  he  was  cutting  up  a  beast  newly  killed  when  he 
left  his  work  in  pursuit  of  a  large  bull  that  came 
rushing  past  him.  His  horse  was  too  much  blown 
to  run  well,  and  when  at  last  he  got  near  enough  to 
fire,  things  began  to  happen  all  at  once.  The  bullet 
hitting  too  low  enraged  the  bison  just  as  the  horse, 
stepping  into  a  prairie-dog  hole,  shot  Kit  some  fif- 
teen feet  through  the  air.  Instead  of  Kit  hunting 
bison,  Mr.  Buffalo  hunted  Kit,  who  ran  for  all  he 
was  worth.  So  they  came  to  the  Arkansas  River 
where  Kit  dived  while  the  bison  stayed  on  the  bank 
to  hook  him  when  he  landed.  But  while  the  bison 
gave  Kit  a  swimming  lesson,  one  of  the  hunters  made 
an  unfair  attack  from  behind,  killing  the  animal.  So 
Kit  crawled  out  and  skinned  his  enemy. 

One  of  his  great  hunting  feats  was  the  ki  ing  of 
five  buffalo  with  only  four  bullets.  Being  short  of 
lead  he  had  to  cut  out  the  ball  from  number  four, 
then  catch  up,  and  shoot  number  five. 

On  another  hunt,  chasing  a  cow  bison  down  a  steep 
hill,  he  fired  just  as  the  animal  took  a  flying  leap,  so 
that  the  carcass  fell,  not  to  the  ground,  but  spiked  on 


III 


92 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


a  small  cedar.  The  Indians  persuaded  him  to  leave 
that  cow  impaled  upon  a  tree-top  because  it  was  big 
magic;  but  to  people  who  do  not  know  the  shrubs  of 
the  southwestern  desert,  it  must  sound  like  a  first- 
class  lie. 

One  night  as  the  expedition  lay  in  camp,  far  up 
among  the  mountains,  Fremont  sat  for  hours  reading 
some  letters  just  arrived  from  home,  then  fell  asleep 
to  dream  of  his  young  wife.  Presently  a  soft  sound, 
rather  like  the  blow  of  an  ax  made  Kit  start  broad 
awake,  to  find  Indians  in  camp.  They  fled,  but  two 
of  the  white  men  were  lying  dead  in  their  blankets, 
and  the  noise  that  awakened  Carson  was  the  blow 
of  a  tomahawk  braining  his  own  chum,  the  voyageur, 
La  Jeunesse. 

In  the  following  year  Carson  was  serving  as  hunter 
to  a  caravan  westward  bound  across  the  plains,  when 
he  met  Captain  Cooke  in  camp,  with  four  squadrons 
of  United  States  Cavalry.  The  captain  told  him  that 
following  on  the  trail  was  a  caravan  belonging  to  a 
wealthy  Mexican  and  so  richly  loaded  that  a  hundred 
riders  had  been  hired  as  guards. 

Presently  the  Mexican  train  came  up  and  the  major- 
domo  offered  Carson  three  hundred  dollars  if  he 
would  ride  to  the  Mexican  governor  at  Santa  Fe  and 
ask  him  for  an  escort  of  troops  from  the  point  where 
they  entered  New  Mexico.  Kit,  who  was  hard  up, 
gladly  accepted  the  cash,  and  rode  to  Bent's  Fort. 
There  he  had  news  that  the  Utes  were  on  the  war-path, 
but  Mr  Bent  lent  him  the  swiftest  horse  in  the  stables. 
Kit  wall.ed,  leading  the  horse  by  the  rein,  to  have  him 
perfectly  fresh  in  case  there  was  need  for  flight.  He 
reached  the  Ute  village,  hid,  and  passed  the  place  at 


KIT  CARSON  f)-. 

night  without  being  seen.  So  he  reached  Taos,  his 
own  home  m  New  Mexico,  whence  the  alcalde  sen* 
his  message  to  the  governor  of  the  state  at  Santa  Fe 
The  governor  had  already  sent  a  hundred  riders 
but  these  had  been  caught  and  wiped  out  by  a  force 
of  Texans,  only  one  escaping,  who,  during  the  heat 
of  the  fight,  caught  a  saddled  Texan  pony  and  rode 
oir. 

Meanwhile  the  governor-Armijo-sent  his  reply 
for  Carson  to  carry  to  the  caravan.  He  said  he  was 
marchmg  with  a  large  force,  and  he  did  so.  But 
when  the  survivor  of  the  lost  hundred  rode  into 
Armijos  camp  with  his  bad  news,  the  whole  outfit 
rolled  their  tails  for  home. 

Carson  with  the  governor's  letter,  and  the  news 
of  plentiful  trouble,  reached  the  Mexican  caravan 
which  deeded  not  to  leave  the  protecting  American 
cavalry  camped  on  the  boundary-line.  What  with 
Texan  raiders,  border  r;ffians,  Utes,  Apaches,  Co- 
nianches,  and  other  httle  drawbacks,  the  caravan 
trade  on  the  Santa  Fe  trail  was  never  dull  for  a 
moment. 

During  these  years  one  finds  Kit  Carson's  tracks 
all  oyer  the  West  about  as  hard  to  follow  as  those  of  a 
flea  m  a  blanket. 

Here  for  example,  is  a  description  of  the  American 
anny  of  the  Bear  Flag  republic  seizing  California  in 
1846.  A  vast  cloud  of  dust  appeared  first,  and 
thence,  a  long  file,  emerged  this  wildest  wild  party 
Fremont  rode  ahead -a  spare,  active-looking  man 
with  such  an  eye  I  He  was  dressed  in  a  blouse  and 
^ggings  and  wore  a  felt  hat.  After  him  came  five 
Delaware  Indians,  who  were  his  body-guard,  and  have 


94 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


been  with  him  through  all  his  wanderings;  they  had 
charge  of  the  baggage  horses.  The  rest,  many  of 
them  blacker  than  the  Indians,  rode  two  and  two,  the 
rifle  held  in  one  hand  across  the  pommel  of  the  saddle. 
Thirty-nine  of  them  there  are  his  regular  men,  the 
rest  are  loafers  picked  up  lately ;  his  original  men  are 
principally  backwoodsmen  from  the  state  of  Ten- 
nessee, and  the  banks  of  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Missouri.  .  .  .  The  dress  of  these  men  was  princi- 
pally a  long  loose  coat  of  der-skin,  tied  with  thongs 
in  front;  trousers  of  the  same,  which  when  wet 
through,  they  take  off,  scrape  well  inside  with  a  knife, 
and  put  on  as  soon  as  dry.  The  saddles  were  of  va- 
rious fashions,  though  these  and  a  large  drove  of 
horses,  and  a  brass  field  gun,  were  things  they  had 
picked  up  about  California.  They  are  allowed  no 
liquor;  this,  no  doubt,  has  much  to  do  with  their 
good  conduct;  and  the  discipline,  too,  is  very  strict." 

One  of  these  men  was  Kit  Carson,  sent  off  in  Oc- 
tober to  Washington  on  the  Atlantic,  three  thousand 
miles  away,  ■  -ith  news  that  California  was  conquered 
for  the  Unitei  States,  by  a  party  of  sixty  men.  In 
New  Mexico,  Kit  met  General  Kearney,  and  told  him 
that  the  Califomians  were  a  pack  of  cowards.  So 
the  general  sent  back  his  troops,  marching  on  with 
only  one  hundred  dragoons.  But  the  Califomians 
were  not  cowards,  they  had  risen  against  the  American 
invasion,  they  were  fighting  magnificently,  and  Fre- 
mont had  rather  a  bad  time  before  he  completed  the 
conquest. 

It  was  during  the  Calif ornian  campaign  that  Car- 
son made  his  famous  ride,  the  greatest  feat  of  horse- 
manship the  world  has  ever  known.    As  a  despatch 


KIT  CARSON  95 

Francisco.  Two  of  thl  !f  ^'""/^^  A-'K'''"  to  San 
but  four  ;f  them  rli  .r  "'!!  ''''*  *  •■*"«"""  ^''ch. 
change  o^L^  ^sLXT  tdt t" S  r °"' 

^i>r^nr;ai-^~^^ 

ctilties  past  all  parallel  °*  ''''''- 

New  Mexico  was  ve,^  like  .1',      r\""'=''°  '" 
Ages.    The  dinner  le^ice  wa!  of"!  °'  *",  ''''''^''= 

united^^:^;^,^  srSwe^a-r  "^  *" 

volts,   when   Kit  settleH   A^  Mexican  re- 

words settled  rwn1^:f„  IT,  "'  '  ''"'^''"-  Th.' 
of  volunteers  alLrr  ^f  •'  '^"^"^  "'  *  ^°'°"«' 
rest  of  ti^"n:'^Sn^l^^:^'^^-  ^"^  ?» '  ""'^ 
of  all  savages  ^     '^      "'  ""  ""'**  f"°cw"s 

fcifrd'r,e'':v'2r''^-  r'^  ^-^  ^'^  -  -'•o 

Apaches,  whn^tht  j;:;„ri,itrofl?h''"' 
hold  «et  with  a  much  worse  fate  tJrt^Ltf  S^^' 


i  '  '^1 


96 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


The  settlers  refused  to  march  in  pursuit  until  Carson 
arrived,  but  by  mistake  he  was  not  given  command, 
a  Frenchman  having  been  chosen  as  leader. 

The  retreat  of  the  savages  was  far  away  in  the 
nountains,  and  well  fortified.  The  only  chance  of 
laving  the  women  and  children  was  to  rush  this  place 
before  there  was  time  to  kill  them,  and  Carson 
dashed  in  with  a  yell,  expecting  all  hands  to  follow. 
So  he  found  himself  alone,  surrounded  by  the 
Apaches,  and  as  they  Vushed,  he  rode,  throwing  him- 
self on  the  off  side  of  his  horse,  almost  concealed 
behind  its  neck.  Six  arrows  struck  his  horse,  and 
one  bullet  lodged  in  his  coat  before  he  was  out  of 
range.  He  cursed  his  Mexicans,  he  put  them  to 
shame,  he  persuaded  them  to  fight,  then  led  a  gallant 
charge,  killing  five  Indians  as  they  fled.  The  delay 
had  given  them  time  to  murder  the  women  and 
children. 

Once,  after  his  camp  had  been  attacked  by  Indians, 
Carson  discovered  that  the  sentry  failed  to  give  an 
alarm  because  he  was  asleep.  The  Indian  punish- 
ment followed,  and  the  soldier  was  made  for  one  day 
to  wear  the  dress  of  a  squaw. 

We  must  pass  by  Kit's  capture  of  a  gang  of  thirty- 
five  desperadoes  for  the  sake  of  a  better  story.  The 
officer,  commanding  a  detachment  of  troops  on  the 
march,  flogged  an  Indian  chief,  the  result  being  war. 
Carson  was  the  first  white  man  to  pass,  and  while 
the  chiefs  were  deciding  how  to  attack  his  caravan, 
he  walked  alone  into  the  council  lodge.  So  many 
years  were  passed  since  the  Che;  -^nnes  had  seen  him 
that  he  was  not  recognized,  and  nobody  suspected 
that  he  knew  their  language,  until  he  made  a  speech 


Kit   Cars(ix 


11 


m 


KIT  CARSON 


» 


In  Gieyenne,  introducing  himself,  recalling  ancient 
friendships,  offering  all  courtesies.  As  to  their 
special  plan  for  killing  the  leader  of  the  caravan,  and 
taking  his  Kalp,  he  claimed  that  he  might  have  some- 
thing to  say  on  the  point.  They  parted.  Kit  to  en- 
courage his  men,  the  Indians  to  v/aylay  the  caravan; 
but  from  the  night  camp  he  despatched  a  Mexican 
boy  to  ride  three  hundred  miles  for  succor.  When 
the  Cheyennes  charged  the  camp  at  dawn,  he  ordered 
them  to  halt,  and  walked  into  the  midst  of  them,  ex- 
plaining the  message  he  had  sent,  and  what  their  fate 
would  be  if  the  troops  found  they  had  molested  them. 
When  the  Indians  found  the  tracks  that  proved  Kit's 
words,  they  knew  they  had  business  elsewhere. 

In  1863  Carson  was  sent  with  a  strong  military 
^orce  to  chasten  the  hearts  of  the  Navajo  nation. 
1  hey  had  never  been  conquered,  and  the  flood  of 
Spanish  invasion  split  when  it  rolled  against  their 
terrific  sand-rock  desert.  The  land  is  one  of  un- 
earthly grandeur  where  natural  rocks  take  the  shapes 
of  towers,  temples,  palaces  and  fortresses  of  moun- 
tainous height  blazing  scarlet  in  color.  In  one  part 
a  wav-  of  rock  like  a  sea  breaker  one  hundred  fifty 
feet  high  and  one  hundred  miles  in  length  curls  over- 
hanging as  though  the  rushing  gray  waters  had  been 
suddenly  struck  into  ice.  On  one  side  lies  the  hollow 
Painted  Desert,  where  the  sands  refract  prismatic  light 
like  a  colossal  rainbow,  and  to  the  west  the  walls  of  the 
Navajo  country  drop  a  sheer  mile  into  the  stupendous 
labyrinth  of  the  Grand  Canon.  Such  is  the  country 
of  a  race  of  warriors  who  ride  naked,  still  armed  with 
bow  and  arrows,  their  harness  of  silver  and  tur- 
quoise. .  .  . 


93 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


They  are  handsome,  cleanly,  proud  and  dignified. 
They  till  their  fields  beside  the  desert  springs,  and  their 
villages  are  set  in  native  orchards,  while  beyond  their 
settlements  graze  the  flocks  and  herds  tended  by 
women  herders. 

The  conquest  was  a  necessity,  and  it  was  well  that' 
this  was  entrusted  to  gentle,  just,  wise,  heroic  Carson. 
He  was  obliged  to  destroy  their  homes,  to  fell  their 
peach  trees,  lay  waste  their  crops,  and  sweep  away 
their  stock,  starving  ihem  to  surrender.  He  herded 
eleven  thousand  prisoners  down  to  the  lower  deserts, 
where  the  chiefs  crawled  to  him  on  their  bellies  for 
mercy,  but  the  governor  had  no  mercy,  and  long  after 
Carson's  death,  the  hapless  people  were  held  in  the 
Boique  Redondo.  A  fourth  part  of  them  died  of 
want,  and  their  spirit  was  utterly  broken  before  they 
were  given  back  their  lands.  It  is  well  for  them  that 
the  Navajo  desert  is  too  terrible  a  region  for  the 
white  men,  and  nobody  tries  to  rob  their  new  pros- 
perity. 

In  one  more  campaign  Colonel  Carson  was  officer 
commanding  and  gave  a  terrible  thrashing  to  the  Chey- 
ennes,  Kiowas  and  Comanches. 

Then  came  the  end,  during  a  visit  to  a  son  of  his 
who  lived  in  Colorado.  Early  in  the  morning  of  May 
twenty-third,  1868,  he  was  mounting  his  horse  when 
an  artery  broke  in  his  neck,  and  within  a  few  moments 
he  was  dead. 

But  before  we  part  with  the  frontier  hero,  it  is 
pleasant  to  think  of  him  still  as  a  living  man  whose 
life  is  an  inspiration  and  his  manhood  an  example. 

Colonel  Inman  tells  of  nights  at  Maxwell's  ranch. 
"I  have  sat  there,"  he  writes,  "in  the  long  winter 


KIT  CARSON  pg 

crackhng  logs,  roaring  up  the  huge  throats  of  itTtwo 

SadV  •  ■  rf '"f  ''"""'"'  ^'*  Carson  and 
wo„der?°,T  1"^'  ""'^""y  interchange  ideas  in  the 
wonderful  s>gn  language,  until  the  glimmer  of  Aurora 
announced  the  advent  of  another  day.    But  noTa 

s"ve  an  occ  T"'  ''"""^  '""^  P^'-^ed  hots! 

save  an  occasional  grunt  of  satisfaction  on  the  part  o 
he  I„d.ans,  or  when  we  white  men  exchanged'a  sen- 


!i  •; 
Is  ■' 


XIV 

A.  D.  1845 

THE  MAN  WHO  WAS  A  GOD 
I 

JOHN  NICHOLSON  was  a  captain  in  the  twenty- 
seventh  native  infantry  of  India.  He  was  very 
tall,  gaunt,  haggard,  with  a  long  black  beard,  a  pale 
face,  lips  that  never  smiled,  eyes  which  burnefl  flame 
and  green  like  those  of  a  tiger  when  he  was  angry. 
He  rarely  spoke. 

Once  in  a  frontier  action  he  was  entirely  sur- 
rounded ty  the  enemy  when  one  of  his  Afghans  saw 
him  in  peril  from  a  descending  sword.  The  Pathan 
sprang  forward,  received  the  blow,  and  died.  In  a 
later  fight  Nicholson  saw  that  warrior's  only  son  taken 
prisoner,  and  carried  off  by  the  enemy.  Charging 
alone,  cutting  a  lane  with  his  sword,  the  officer  rescued 
his  man,  hoisted  him  across  the  saddle,  and  fought  his 
way  back.  Ever  afterward  the  young  Pathan,  whose 
father  had  died  for  Nicholson,  rode  at  the  captain's 
side,  served  him  at  table  with  a  cocked  pistol  on  one 
hand,  slept  across  the  door  of  his  tent.  By  the  time 
Nicholson's  special  service  began  he  had  a  personal 
following  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  wild  riders  who 
refused  either  to  take  any  pay  or  to  leave  his  service. 

So  was  he  guarded,  but  also  a  sword  must  be  found 
fit  for  the  hand  of  the  greatest  swordsman  in  India. 


THE  MAN  WHO  WAS  A  GOD  loi 

The  Sikh  leaders  sent  out  word  to  their  whole  nation 
for  such  a  blade  as  Nicholson  might  wear  HLrfr.H^ 
were  offered  and  after  long  and  intrica  e  te"ts  three 
were  found  equally  perfect' two  of  the  bl 2  S 
curved,  one  straight.    Captain  Nicholson  chose    hf 

s'^o/rri^r ''  --''-'  -  ^  ^"'^-  a 

This  man  was  only  a  most  humble  Christian,  but  the 
S^khs,  observmg  the  perfection  of  his  manhood  sun! 
posed  hnn  to  be  divine,  and  offered  that  if  he  woX 
accept  the.r  religion  they  would  raise  such  a  temple  " 
h.s  honor  as  India  had  never  seen.     Many  a    ta" 

papers  a  dozen  Sikh  warriors  would  squat  in  the  door 
way  silent,  watching  their  god.  He  to^k  no  notL  but 
sometimes  a  worshiper,  overcome  with  the  conviction 
of  sin  would  prostrate  himself  i„  adoration  For 
this  offense  the  punishment  was  three  dozen  I.. h 
with  the  cat.  but  the  victims  liked  it  "Our  L^ 
that  wc  had  been  doing  wrong,  alV^hereS^'^S 

^^■"u    "  r  "^^^  *°  "'P'^'"  *e  Indian  mutiny  to 

thafi?  ;«,?"•    ''}'  ''"™^^  ''-P  -t°  our  mi; 
that  in  1857  our  native  army,  revolting,  seized  Delhi 

GrearMo     ,"'"''•  '""  '''  "P  ^  clesLdant  omS 
Great  Mogul  as  emperor  of  India.    The  children  thl 
women,  the  men  who  were  tortured  to  dea  h  ot  bm fh 
unde  fl^'f'  ""'  °'  .°"^  -"  ''--holds.    Your 

terf  ttnSeJ  Th"''*":  "'^^'  '"^  '"*''^'  ''''<'  '"e  let- 


102 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


raents  swore  to  the  loyalty  of  their  men,  but  Nicholson 
dealt  out  his  packages  of  letters  to  them  all,  saying, 
"  Perhaps  these  will  interest  you." 

The  colonels  read,  and  were  chilled  with  horror  at 
finding  in  their  trusted  regiments  an  abyss  of  treach- 
ery.   Their  troops  were  disarmed  and  disbanded. 

To  disarm  and  disperse  the  native  army  through- 
out Northwestern  India  a  flying  column  was  formed 
of  British  troops,  and  Nicholson,  although  he  was  only 
a  captain,  was  sent  \o  take  command  of  the  whole 
force  with  the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  There  were 
old  officers  under  him,  yet  never  a  murmur  rose  from 
them  at  that  strange  promotion. 

Presently  Sir  John  Lawrence  wrote  to  Nicholson  a 
fierce  official  letter,  demanding,  "  Where  are  you  ? 
What  are  you  doing?  Send  instantly  a  return  of 
court-martial  held  upon  insurgent  natives,  with  a  list 
of  the  various  punishments  inflicted." 

Nicholson's  reply  was  a  sheet  of  paper  bearing  his 
present  address,  the  date,  and  the  words,  "  The  punish- 
ment of  mutiny  is  death."  He  wanted  another  regi- 
ment to  strengthen  his  column,  and  demanded  the 
eighty-seventh,  which  was  guarding  our  women  and 
children  in  the  hills.  Lawrence  said  these  men  could 
not  be  spared.  Nicholson  wrote  back,  "  When  an 
empire  is  at  stake,  women  and  children  cease  to  be 
of  any  consideration  whatever."  What  chance  had 
they  if  he  failed  to  hold  this  district? 

Nicholson's  column  on  the  march  was  surrounded 
by  his  own  wild  guards  riding  in  couples,  so  that  he, 
their  god,  searched  the  whole  country  with  five  hun- 
dred eyes.  After  one  heart-breaking  night  march  he 
drew  up  his  infantry  and  guns,  then  rode  along  the 


..F.VI-Rlf.    >,  H  Hul.SK.N 


11 

V, 

h 


THE  MAN  WHO  WAS  A  GOD  103 

line  giving  his  orders:  "In  a  few  minutes  you  will 
see  two  native  regiments  come  round  that  little  temple 
If  they  brmg  their  muskets  to  the  '  ready.'  fire  a  volley 
into  them  without  further  orders." 

As  the  native  regiments  appeared  from  b«;hind  the 
little  temple,  Nicholson  rode  to  meet  them.  He  was 
seen  to  speak  to  them  and  then  they  grounded  their 
arms.  Two  thousand  men  had  surrendered  to  seven 
hundred,  but  had  the  mutineers  resisted  Nicholson 
himself  must  have  perished  between  two  fires.  He 
cared  nothing  for  his  life. 

Only  once  did  this  leader  blow  mutineers  from  the 
guns,  and  then  it  was  to  fire  the  flesh  and  blood  of 
nine  conspirators  into  the  faces  of  a  doubtful  reci- 
ment.  For  the  rest  he  had  no  powder  to  waste,  but  no 
mercy,  and  from  his  awful  executions  of  rebels  he 
would  go  away  to  hide  in  his  tent  and  weep 

He  had  given  orders  that  no  native  should  be  al- 
lowed to  ride  past  a  white  man.  One  morning  before 
dawn  the  orderly  officer,  a  lad  of  nineteen,  seeing  na- 
tives passing  him  on  an  elephant,  ordered  them  sharply 
to  dismount  and  make  their  salaam.  They  obeyed  - 
an  Afghan  prince  and  his  servant,  sent  by  the  king  of 
Cabul  as  an  embassy  to  Captain  Nicholson.  Next  day 
the  ambassador  spoke  of  this  humiliation.  "  No  won- 
der, he  said  "  you  English  conquer  India  when  mere 
boys  obey  orders  as  this  one  did  " 
wiJU'oni""!"  °"«Wht  a  Bengal  tiger,  and  slew  it 

r^H  1-  T  .' "  •"'  '^°"^'  ''"*  "^""W  the  English 
subdue  this  India  in  revolt?  The  mutineers  held  the 
.mprepiable  capital  old  Delhi -and  under  the  red 

^'  \-T'  "'""''"'^  men -England's  forlorn 
hope  —  which  must  storm  that  giant  fortress.    If  they 


I04  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

failed  the  whole  population  would  rise.  "  If  ordained 
to  fail,"  said  Nicholson,  "  I  hope  the  British  will  drag 
down  with  them  in  flames  and  blood  as  many  of  the 
queen's  enemies  as  possible."  If  they  had  failed 
not  one  man  of  our  race  would  have  escaped  to  the 
sea. 

Nicholson  brought  his  force  to  aid  in  the  siege  of 
Delhi,  and  now  he  was  only  a  captain  under  the  im- 
potent and  hopeless  General  Wilson.  "I  have 
strength  yet,"  said  Nicholson  when  he  was  dying,  "  to 
shoot  him  if  necessary." 

The  batteries  of  the  city  walls  from  the  Lahore 
Gate  to  the  Cashmere  Gate  were  manned  by  Sikh 
gunners,  loyal  to  the  English,  but  detained  against 
their  will  by  the  mutineers.  One  night  they  saw  Nich- 
olson without  any  disguise  walk  in  at  the  Lahore  Gate, 
and  through  battery  after  battery  along  the  walls  he 
went  in  silence  to  the  Cashmere  Gate,  by  which  he  left 
the  city.  At  the  sight  of  that  gaunt  giant,  the  man 
they  believed  to  be  an  incarnate  god,  they  fell  upon 
their  faces.  So  Captain  Nicholson  studied  the  de- 
fenses of  a  besieged  stronghold  as  no  man  on  earth 
had  ever  dared  before.  To  him  was  given  command 
of  the  assault  which  blew  up  the  Cashmere  Gate,  and 
stormed  the  Cashmere  breach.  More  than  half  his 
men  perished,  but  an  entry  was  made,  and  in  six  days 
the  British  fought  their  way  through  the  houses, 
breaching  walls  as  they  went  until  they  stormed  the 
palace,  hoisted  the  flag  above  the  citadel,  and  proved 
with  the  sword  who  shall  be  masters  of  India. 

But  Nicholson  had  fallen.  Mortally  wounded  he 
was  carried  to  his  tent,  and  there  lay  through  the  hot 
days  watching  the  blood-red  towers  and  walls  of  Delhi. 


THE  MAN  WHO  WA£  A  GOD  ,05 

listening  to  the  sounds  of  the  loni,  fi„ht  . 
he  miglu  see  the  end  MorXr/J^'  '    ""'  ""* 
Outside  the  tent  waited  his  worshjers,  clutching 
at  the  doctors  as  they  passed  to  beg  for  ne;s  o    hi™ 

end.  .hen  his  J^T.tV:^,  Ehe^el^inlL^ 

lirchildre.  "'   '"""''"  "P^"  '•'^  «-""''.  -bbing 
Far  off  in  the  hills  the  Nicholson  fakirs- a  trih. 
who  had  made  hin,  their  only  god  -  heard  of  hi   pa  s 
ng.     Two  chiefs  killed  themselves  that  they  mfeh 
serve  h.m  ,„  another  world;  but  the  third    h  'f  "oke 
to  the  people:    "  Nickelseyn  alwavs  said  that  he  was 
a  man  hke  as  we  are.  and  that  he  worshiped  a  God 
whom  he  could  not  see.  but  who  was  alway's  „ear  us 
L  t  us  learn  to  worship  Nickelseyn's  Go/"    So  "he 
tr^e  came  dow-.  from  their  hills  to  the  ChrStian  tea  £ 
ers  at  Peshawur.  and  there  were  baptized 


XV 

A.  D.  1853 

THE  GREAT  FILIBISTER 

IX^ILLIAM  WALKER,  son  of  a  Scotch  banker. 
"  "  was  born  in  Tennessee,  cantankerous  from  the 
time  he  was  whelped.  He  never  swore  or  drank,  or 
loved  anybody,  but  was  rigidly  respectable  and  pure, 
believed  in  negro  slavery,  bristled  with  points  of  eti- 
quette and  formality,  liked  squabbling,  had  a  nasty 
sharp  tongue,  and  a  taste  for  dueling.  The  little  dry 
man  was  by  turns  a  doctor,  editor  and  lawyer,  and 
when  he  wanted  to  do  anything  very  outrageous,  al- 
ways began  by  taking  counsel's  opinion.  He  wore  a 
black  tail-coat,  and  a  black  wisp  of  necktie  even  when 
in  1853  he  landed  an  army  of  forty-five  men  to  con- 
quer Mexico.  His  followers  were  California  gold 
miners  dressed  in  blue  shirts,  duck  trousers,  long 
boots,  bowie  knives,  revolvers  and  rifles.  After  he 
had  taken  the  city  of  La  Paz  by  assault,  called  an 
election  and  proclaimed  himself  president  of  Sonora, 
he  was  joined  by  two  or  three  hundred  more  of  the 
same  breed  from  San  Francisco.  These  did  not  think 
very  much  of  a  leader  twenty-eight  years  old,  standing 
five  feet  six,  and  weighing  only  nine  stone  four,  so 
they  merrily  conspired  to  blow  him  up  with  gunpow- 
k6 


THE  GREAT  FILIBUSTER  107 

der.  and  disperse  with  what  plunder  they  could  grab. 

r«^"  Z^  f '  '"'°'  ""^^'^  "  ™"P'*'  d»an„ed%he 
rest  without  showing  any  sign  of  emotion.    He  could 

thh  n^  ""f  """"]';!'  ''"P""''" '"'"  ^''J^^t  obedience 
wuh  one  glance  of  his  cool  gray  eye.  and  never  al- 
lowed his  men  to  drmk.  play  cards,  or  swear.  "Our 
government."  he  wrote,  "has  been  formed  upon  a 
firm  and  sure  basis."  ^ 

while' th^e'n""'  ^"V"**'""'  *'"*"^'  °*''«"^'«.  for 
while  the  new  president  of  Sonora  marched  north- 

the  rear  of  the  column,  cutting  off  stragglers,  who 
were  slowly  tortured  to  death.    Twice  thfy  dared  an 

awful  rifles  of  despairing  men.  cut  them  to  pieces.  So 
the  march  went  on  through  hundreds  of  miles  of 
blanng  hot  desert,  where  the  filibusters  dropped"  ift 
thirst,  and  blew  their  own  brains  out  rather  than  be 
captured.    Only  thirty-four  men  were  left  when  they 

Sonora.  in  a  boot  and  a  shoe,  his  cabinet  in  rags  his 
amiy  and  navy  bloody,  with  dried  wounds.  Sun 

nioest.  The  filibusters  surrendered  to  the  United 
States  garrison  as  prisoners  of  war 

Just  a  year  later,  with  six  of  these  veterans    and 
forty-eight  othe.  Californians,  Walker  landed  »;  the 

aTthele  wK  ™,^  """''  ^^P""''^  ^^  «"«-d 
tXl  ^u  ,  °  """'  presidents,  and  the  one  who 
got  Walkers  help  vety  soon  had  possession  of  the 

WalkeT  wt  7  °'  """'  '""'^"'  engagements 
Walker  was  made  commander-in-chief,  and  at  the 
next  election  chosen  by  the  people  themsdves  as  presi! 


io8 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


dent.  He  had  now  a  thousand  Americans  in  his  fol- 
lowing, and  when  the  native  statci^men  and  generals 
proved  treacherous,  they  were  promptly  shot.  Wal- 
ker's camp  of  wild  desperadoes  was  like  a  Sunday- 
school,  his  government  the  cleanest  ever  known  in 
Central  America,  and  his  dignity  all  prickles,  hard  to 
approach.  He  depended  for  existence  on  the  services 
of  Vanderbilt's  steamship  lines,  but  seized  their  ware- 
house for  cheating.  He  was  surrounded  by  four  hos- 
tile republics,  Costa  Rica,  San  Salvador,  Honduras 
and  Guatemala,  and  insulted  them  all.  He  suspended 
diplomatic  relations  with  the  United  States,  demanded 
for  his  one  schooner-of-war  salutes  from  the  British 
navy,  and  had  no  sense  of  humor  whatsoever. 
Thousands  of  brave  men  died  for  this  prim  little  law- 
yer, and  tens  of  thousands  fell  by  pestilence  and  battle 
in  his  wars,  but  with  all  his  sweet  unselfishness,  his 
purity,  and  his  valor,  poor  Walker  was  a  prig.  So 
the  malcontents  of  Nicaragua,  and  the  republics  from 
Mexico  to  Peru,  joined  the  steamship  company,  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  to  wipe  out  his  hap- 
less government. 

The  armies  of  four  republics  were  closing  in  on 
Walker's  capital,  the  city  of  Granada.  He  marched 
out  to  storm  the  allies  perched  on  an  impregnable  vol- 
cano, and  was  carrying  his  last  charge  to  a  victorious 
issue,  when  news  reached  him  that  Zavala  with  eight 
hundred  men  had  jumped  on  Granada.  He  forsook 
his  victor/  and  rushed  for  the  capital  city. 

There  were  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  invalids  and 
sick  in  the  Granada  garrison  to  man  the  church,  ar- 
mory and  hospital  against  Zavala,  but  the  women 
loaded  rifles  for  the  wounded  and  after  twenty-two 


THE  GREAT  FILIBUSTER  ,09 

hours  of  ghastly  carnage,  the  enemy  were  thrown  out 
of  the  city.  They  fell  back  to  li,  in  Walker's  path  as 
he  came  to  the  rescue.  Walker  saw  the  trap,  carried 
It  with  a  charge,  drove  Zavala  back  into  the  city,  broke 
him  between  two  fires,  then  sent  a  detachment  to  inter- 
cept his  flight.  In  this  double  battle,  fighting  eight 
times  his  own  force,  Walker  killed  half  the  allied 
army. 

But  the  pressure  of  several  invasions  at  once  was 
making  ,t  impossible  for  Walker  to  keep  his  communi- 
cation open  with  the  sea  while  he  held  his  capital. 
Granada,  the  most  beautiful  of  all  Central  American 
cities,  must  be  abandoned,  and,  lest  the  enemy  win  the 
place,  It  must  be  destroyed.  So  Walker  withdrew  his 
sick  men  to  an  island  in  the  big  Lake  Nicaragua; 
while  Hennmgsen,  an  Englishman,  his  second  in  com- 
mand, burned  and  abandoned  the  capital 

But  now,  while  the  city  burst  into  flames,  and  the 
smoke  went  up  as  from  a  volcano,  the  American  garri- 
son broke  loose,  rifled  the  liquor  stores  and  lay  drunk 
m  the  blazing  streets,  so  the  allied  army  swooped  down 
cutting  off  the  retreat  to  the  lake.    Henningsen,  vet- 
eran of  the  Carlist  and  Hungarian  revolts,  a  knight 
errant  of  lost  causes,  took  three  weeks  to  fight  his  way 
three  miles,  before  Walker  could  cover  his  embark- 
ment  on  the  lake.    There  had  been  four  hundred  men 
m    the   garrison,   but  only   one   hundred   and    fifty 
answered  the  roll-call  in  their  refuge  on  the  Isle  of 
Omotepe.    In  the  plaza  of  the  capital  city  they  had 
planted  a  spear,  and  on  the  spear  hung  a  rawhide  with 

this  inscription: 

"Here  wr.s  Granada!" 

In  taking  that  heap  of  blacker-.  ,•„        four  thou- 


no 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


sand  out  of  six  thousand  of  the  allies  had  perished; 
but  even  they  were  more  fortunate  than  a  Costa  Rican 
army  of  invasion,  which  killed  fifty  of  the  filibusters, 
at  a  cost  of  ten  thousand  men  slain  by  war  and  pesti- 
lence. It  always  worked  out  that  the  killing  of  one 
filibuster  cost  on  the  average  eight  of  his  adversaries. 

Four  months  followed  of  confused  fighting,  in  which 
the  Americans  slowly  lost  ground,  until  at  last  they 
were  besieged  in  the  town  of  Rivas,  melting  the  church 
bells  for  cannon-balls,  dying  at  their  posts  of  starva- 
tion. The  neighboring  town  of  San  Jorge  was  held  by 
two  thousand  Costa  Ricans,  and  these  Walker  at- 
tempted to  dislodge.  His  final  charge  was  made  with 
fifteen  men  into  the  heart  of  the  town.  No  valor 
could  win  against  such  odds,  and  the  orderly  retreat 
began  on  Rivas.  Two  hundred  men  lay  in  ambush  to 
take  Walker  at  a  planter's  house  by  the  wayside,  and  as 
he  rode  wearily  at  the  head  of  his  men  they  opened 
fire  from  cover  at  a  range  of  fifteen  yards.  Walker 
reined  in  his  horse,  fired  six  revolver-shots  into  the 
windows,  then  rode  on  quietly  erect  while  the  storm  of 
lead  raged  about  him,  and  saddle  after  saddle  was 
emptied.  A  week  afterward  the  allies  assaulted 
Rivas,  but  left  six  hundred  men  dead  in  the  field,  so 
terrific  was  the  fire  from  the  ramparts. 

It  was  in  these  days  that  a  British  naval  oflicer  came 
under  flag  of  truce  from  the  coast  to  treat  for  V.'alkar's 
surrender. 

"  I  presume,  sir,"  was  the  filibuster's  greeting,  "  that 
you  have  come  to  apologize  for  the  outrage  offered  to 
my  flag,  and  to  the  commander  of  the  Nicaraguan 
schooner-of-war  Granada." 

"  If  they  had  another  schooner,"  said  the  English- 


THE  GREAT  FILIBUSTER  m 

man  afterward,  "  I  believe  they  would  have  declared 
war  on  Great  Britain." 

Then  the  United  States  navy  treated  with  this  pep- 
pery httle  lawyer,  and  on  the  first  of  May,  1857,  he 
grudgingly  consented  to  being  rescued. 

During  his  four  years'  fight  for  empire,  Walker 
had  enlisted  three  thousand  five  hundred  Americans  — 
Md  the  proportion  of  wounds  was  one  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  for  every  hundred  men.  A  thousand  fell. 
The  allied  republics  had  twenty-one  thousand  soldiers 
and  ten  thousand  Indians -and  lost  fifteen  thousand 

Two  years  later,  Walker  set  out  again  with  a  hun- 

fh  nT..'°  T"''""  ^'"*''*'  ^'"""'^^  «  defiance  of 
tiie  British  and  United  States  squadrons,  sent  to  catch 
hmi,  and  m  the  teeth  of  five  armed  republics  He 
was  captured  by  the  British',  shot  by  Spanish  Ameri- 
cans upon  a  sea  beach  in  Honduras,  and  so  perished, 
fearless  to  the  end. 


XVI 

A.  D.  1857 
BUFFALO  BILL 

THE  Mormons  are  a  sect  of  Christians  with  some 
queer  ideas,  for  they  drink  no  liquor,  hold  all 
their  property  in  common,  stamp  out  any  member  who 
dares  to  think  or  work  for  himself,  and  believe  that 
the  more  wives  a  man  has  the  merrier  he  will  be. 
The  women,  so  far  as  I  met  them  are  like  fat  cows,  the 
men  a  slovenly  lot,  and  not  too  honest,  but  they  are 
hard  workers  and  iirst-rate  pioneers. 

Because  they  made  themselves  unpopular  they  were 
persecuted,  and  fled  from  the  United  States  into  the 
desert  beside  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  There  they  got 
water  from  the  mountain  streams  and  made  their  land 
a  garden.  They  only  wanted  to  be  left  alone  in  peace, 
but  that  was  a  poor  excuse  for  slaughtering  emigrants. 
Murdering  women  and  children  is  not  in  good  taste. 

The  government  sent  an  army  to  attend  to  these 
saints,  but  the  soldiers  wanted  food  to  eat,  and  the 
Mormons  would  not  sell,  so  provisions  had  to  be  sent 
a  thousand  miles  across  the  wilderness  to  save  the 
starving  troops.  So  we  come  to  the  herd  of  beef 
cattle  which  in  May,  1857,  was  drifting  from  the  Mis- 
souri River,  and  to  the  drovers'  camp  beside  the  banks 
of  the  Platte. 


BUFFALO  BILL  jij 

A  party  of  red  Indians  on  the  war-path  found  that 
herd  and  camp;  they  scalped  the  herders  on  guard 
stampeded  the  cattle  and  rushed  the  camp,  sftha 
the  white  men  were  driven  to  cover  under  the  river 
bank.  Keepmg  the  Indians  at  bay  with  their  rifles 
he  party  marched  for  the  settlements  wading.  sclS 
t.mes  sw.mmmg,  while  they  pushed  a  raft  that  car, 

IndianT"  '"'"•    ^'^"^^  "  '^'  ^uard  kept  the 

Indians  from  commg  too  near.    And  so  the  night  fell 

.u  « u"!  *,  y°""g«t  and  smallest,"  says  one  of 
them,  "had  fallen  behind  the  others.  .  .  When  I 
happened  to  look  up  to  the  moonlit  sky,  and  saw  the 
plumed  head  of  an  Indian  peeping  over  the  bank 
1  mstantly  aimed  my  gun  at  his  head,  and  fired.  The 
report  rang  out  sharp  and  loud  in  the  night  air,  and 
was  .mmed.ately  followed  by  an  Indian  whoop-  and 
the  next  moment  about  six  feet  of  dead  Indian  came 
tumbhng  mto  the  river.  I  was  not  only  overcome  with 
astonishment  but  was  badly  scared,  as  I  could  hardly 
realize  what  I  had  done." 

me!''''"  wT  ^'■""''McCarthy,  the  leader,  with  all  his 
men.       Who  fired  that  shot ' " 
"  I  did." 

"Yes,  and  little  Billy  has  killed  an  Indian  stone-dead 
—  too  dead  to  skin  I " 

patt!  '''*  '^^  °^  "'"'  °'"^  ^"^^  ^""^  **'«=''  ""^  *"- 
In  those  days  the  army  had  no  luck.  When  the  eov- 
emment  sent  a  herd  of  cattle  the  Indians  got  the  l^f 
and  the  great  big  train  of  seventy-five  w!gons  mthi 
burled  Tf  r  '*'"  ""'"'''"'  '°  *"«  Morons,  who 
turned  the  teamsters,  including  little  Billy    loose  in 


114 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


the  mountains,  where  they  came  nigh  starving.  The 
boy  was  too  thin  to  cast  a  shadow  when  in  the  spring 
he  set  out  homeward  across  the  plains  with  two  re- 
turning trains. 

One  day  these  trains  were  fifteen  miles  apart  when 
Simpson,  the  wagon  boss,  with  George  Woods,  a 
teamster,  and  Billy  Cody,  set  off  riding  mules  from 
the  rear  outfit  to  catch  up  the  teams  in  front.  They 
were  midway  when  a  war  party  of  Indians  charged  at 
full  gallop,  surround'ng  them,  but  Simpson  shot  the 
three  mules  and  vs  "  their  carcasses  to  make  a  tri- 
angular fort.  The  three  whites,  each  with  a  rifle  and 
a  brace  of  revolvers  were  more  than  a  match  for  men 
with  bows  and  arrows,  and  the  Indians  lost  so  heavily 
that  they  retreated  out  of  range.  That  gave  the  fort 
time  to  reload,  but  the  Indians  charged  again,  and  this 
time  Woods  got  an  arrow  in  the  shoulder.  Once  more 
the  Indians  retired  to  consult,  while  Simpson  drew  the 
arrow  from  Woods'  shoulder,  plugging  the  hole  with 
a  quid  of  chewing  tobacco.  A  third  time  the  Indians 
charged,  trying  to  ride  down  the  stockade,  but  they 
lost  a  man  and  a  horse.  Four  warriors  had  fallen 
now  in  this  battle  with  two  men  and  a  little  boy,  but 
the  Indians  are  a  painstaking,  persevering  race,  so  they 
waited  until  nightfall  and  set  the  grass  on  fire.  But 
the  whites  had  been  busy  with  knives  scooping  a  hole 
from  whence  the  loose  earth  made  a  breastwork  over 
the  dead  mules,  so  that  the  flames  could  not  reach 
them,  and  they  had  good  cover  to  shoot  from  when 
the  Indians  charged  through  the  smoke.  After  that 
both  sides  had  a  sleep,  and  at  dawn  they  were  fresh 
for  a  grand  charge,  handsomely  repulsed.    The  red- 


BUFFALO  BILL 


"5 


skins  sat  down  in  a  ring  to  starve  the  white  men  out, 
and  great  was  their  disappointment  when  Simpson's 
rear  train  of  wagons  marched  to  the  rescue.  The 
red  men  did  not  stay  to  pick  flowers. 

It  seems  like  lying  to  state  that  at  the  age  of  twelve 
Billy  Cody  began  to  take  rank  among  the  world's  great 
horsemen,  and  yet  he  -ode  on  the  pony  express,  which 
closed  in  1861,  his  fourteenth  year. 

The  trail  from  the  Missouri  over  the  plains,  the 
deserts  and  the  mountains  into  California  was  about 
two  thousand  miles  through  a  country  infested  with 
gangs  of  professional  robbers  and  hostile  Indian 
tribes.  The  gait  of  the  riders  averaged  twelve  miles 
an  hour,  which  means  a  gallop,  to  allow  for  the  slow 
work  in  mountain  passes.  There  were  one  hundred 
ninety  stations  at  which  the  riders  changed  ponies 
without  breaking  their  run,  and  each  must  be  fit  and 
able  for  one  hundred  miles  a  day  in  time  of  need. 
Pony  Bob  afterward  had  contracts  by  which  he  rode 
one  hundred  miles  a  day  for  a  year. 

Now,  none  of  the  famous  riders  of  history,  like 
Charles  XII,  of  Sweden;  Dick,  King  of  Natal,  or  Dick 
Turpin,  of  England,  made  records  to  beat  the  men  of 
the  pony  express,  and  in  that  service  Billy  was 
counted  a  hero.  He  is  outclassed  by  the  Cossack  Lieu- 
tenant Peschkov,  who  rode  one  pony  at  twenty-eight 
n-iles  a  day  the  length  of  the  Russian  em  .nc  from 
Vladivostok  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  by  Kit  Carsjn  who 
with  one  horse  rode  six  hundred  miles  in  six  days. 
There  are  branches  of  horsemanship,  too,  in  which  he 
would  have  been  proud  to  take  lessons  from  Lord 
Lonsdale,  or  Evelyn  French,  but  Cody  is,  as  far  as  I 


« 


Ii6 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


have  seen,  of  all  white  men  incomparable  for  grace, 
for  beauty  of  movement,  among  the  horsemen  of  the 
modem  world. 

But  to  turn  back  to  the  days  of  the  boy  rider. 

"  One  day,"  he  writes,  "  when  I  galloped  into  my 
home  station  I  found  that  the  rider  who  was  expected 
to  take  the  trip  out  on  my  arrival  had  gotten  into  a 
drunken  row  the  night  before,  and  had  been  killed. 
...  I  pushed  on  .  J  ,  entering  every  relay  station  on 
time,  and  accomplished  the  round  trip  of  three 
hundred  twenty-two  miles  back  to  Red  Buttes  with- 
out a  single  mishap,  and  on  time.  This  stands  on  the 
record  as  being  the  longest  pony  express  journey  ever 
made." 

One  of  the  station  agents  has  a  story  to  tell  of  this 
ride,  made  without  sleep,  and  with  halts  of  only  a  few 
minutes  for  meals.  News  had  leaked  out  of  a  large 
sum  of  money  to  be  shipped  by  the  express,  and  Cody, 
expecting  robbers,  rolled  the  treasure  in  his  saddle 
blanket,  filling  the  official  pouches  with  rubbish.  At 
the  best  place  for  an  ambush  two  men  stepped  out 
on  to  the  trail,  halting  him  with  their  muskets.  As  he 
explained,  the  pouches  were  full  of  rubbish,  but  the 
road  agents  knew  better.  "  Mark  my  words,"  he  said 
as  he  unstrapped,  "  you'll  hang  for  this." 

"  We'll  take  chances  on  that.  Bill." 

"  If  you  will  have  them,  take  them  I "  With  that  he 
hurled  the  pouches,  and  as  robber  number  one  turned 
to  pick  them  up,  robber  number  two  had  his  gun-arm 
shattered  with  the  boy's  revolver-shot.  Then  with  a 
yell  he  rode  down  the  stooping  man,  and  spurring 
hard,  got  out  of  range  unhurt.    He  had  saved  the 


BUFFALO  BILL 


"7 


treasure,  and  afterward  both  robbers  were  hanged  by 
vigilantes. 

Once  far  down  a  valley  ahead  Cody  saw  a  dark 
object  above  a  boulder  directly  on  his  trail,  and  when 
it  disappeared  he  knew  he  was  caught  in  an, ambush. 
Just  as  he  came  into  range  he  swerved  wide  to  the 
right,  and  at  once  a  rifle  smoked  from  behind  the  rock. 
Two  Indians  afoot  ran  for  their  ponies  while  a  dozen 
mounted  warriors  broke  from  the  timbered  edge  of 
the  valley,  racing  to  cut  him  off.  One  of  these  had  a 
war  bonnet  of  eagle  plumes,  the  badge  of  a  chief,  and 
his  horse,  being  the  swiftest,  drew  ahead.  All  the  In- 
dians were  firing,  but  the  chief  raced  Cody  to  head 
him  off  at  a  narrow  pass  of  the  valley.  The  boy  was 
slightly  ahead,  and  when  the  chief  saw  that  the  white 
rider  would  have  about  thirty  yards  to  spare  he  fitted 
an  arrow,  drawing  for  the  shot.  But  Cody,  swinging 
rotmd  in  the  saddle,  lashed  out  his  revolver,  and 
the  chief,  clutching  at  the  air,  fell,  rolling  over  like  a 
ball  as  he  struck  the  ground.  At  the  chief's  death-cry 
a  shower  of  arrows  from  the  rear  whizzed  round  the 
boy,  one  slightly  wounding  his  pony  who,  spurred  by 
the  pain,  galloped  clear,  leaving  the  Indians  astern  in 
a  ten  mile  race  to  the  next  relay. 

After  what  seems  to  the  reader  a  long  life  of  ad- 
venture, Mr.  Cody  had  just  reached  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  when  a  series  of  wars  broke  out  with  the  Indian 
tribes,  and  he  was  attached  to  the  troops  as  a  scout.  A 
number  of  Pawnee  Indians  who  thought  nothing  of 
this  white  man,  were  also  serving.  They  were  better 
trackers,  better  interpreters  and  thought  themselves 
better  hunters.    One  day  a  party  of  twenty  had  been 


"8  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

mming  buffalo,  and  made  a  bag  of  thirty-two  head 
when  Cody  got  leave  to  attack  a  herd  by  hmwelf. 
Mounted  on  his  famous  pony  Buckskin  Joe  he  made  a 
bag  of  thirty-six  head  on  a  half-mile  run,  and  his  name 
was  Buffalo  Bill  from  that  time  onward. 

That  summer  he  led  a  squadron  of  cavalry  that  at- 
tacked six  hundred  Sioux,  and  in  that  fight  against 
overwhekning  odds  he  brought  down  a  chief  at  a  range 
of  four  hundred  yards,  in  those  days  a  very  long  shot. 
His  victim  proved  to  be  Tall  Bull,  one  of  the  great  war 
leaders  of  the  Sioux.  The  widow  of  Tall  Bull  was 
proud  that  her  husband  had  been  killed  by  so  famous 
a  warrior  as  Prairie  Chief,  for  that  was  Cody's  name 
among  the  Indians. 

There  is  one  very  nice  story  about  the  Pawnee 
scouts.  A  new  general  had  taken  command  who  must 
have  all  sorts  of  etiquette  proper  to  soldiers.  It  was 
all  very  well  for  the  white  sentries  to  call  at  intervals 
of  the  night  from  post  to  post :  "  Post  Number  One 
nine  o'dock,  aU's  well  I "    "  Post  Number  Two,  etc." 

But  when  the  Pawnee  sentries  called,  "Go  to 
heU,  I  don't  care  I"  well,  the  practise  had  to  be 
stopped. 

Of  Buffalo  Bill's  adventures  in  these  wars  the  plain 
record  would  only  take  one  large  volume,  but  he  was 
scouting  in  company  with  Texas  Jack,  John  Nelson, 
Belden,  the  White  Chief,  and  so  many  other  famous 
frontier  heroes,  each  needing  at  least  one  book  volume, 
that  I  must  give  the  story  up  as  a  bad  job.  At  the  end 
of  the  Sioux  campaign  Buffalo  Bill  was  chief  of  scouts 
with  the  rank  of  colonel. 

In  1876,  General  Custer,  with  a  force  of  ntarly  fonr 
hundred  cavalry,  perished  in  an  attack  on  the  Sk>ux. 


Colonel  Cody 
("Buffalo  Bill") 


I 


BUFFALO  BILL 


119 


and  the  only  survivor  was  his  pet  boy  scout,  Billy 
Jackson,  who  got  away  at  night  disguised  as  an  Indian. 
Long  afterward  Billy,  who  was  one  of  God's  own 
gentlemen,  told  me  that  story  while  we  sat  on  a  grassy 
hillside  watching  a  great  festival  of  the  Blackfeet 
nation. 

After  the  battle  in  which  Custer  — the  Sun  Child  — 
fell,  the  big  Sioux  army  scattered,  but  a  section  of  it 
was  rounded  up  by  a  force  under  the  guidance  of  Buf- 
falo Bill. 

"  One  of  the  Indians,"  he  says,  "  who  was  hand- 
somely decorated  with  all  the  ornaments  usually  worn 
by  a  war  chief  .  .  .  sang  out  to  me  '  I  know  you, 
Prairie  Chief;  if  you  want  to  fight  come  ahead  and 
fight  me  I' 

"  The  chief  was  riding  his  horse  back  and  forth  in 
front  of  his  men,  as  if  to  banter  me,  and  I  accepted 
the  challenge.  I  galloped  toward  him  for  fifty  yards 
and  he  advanced  toward  me  about  the  same  distance, 
both  of  us  riding  at  full  speed,  and  then  when  we  were 
only  about  thirty  yards  apart  I  rslsed  my  rifle  and 
fired.  His  horse  fell  to  the  ground,  having  been 
killed  by  my  bullet.  Ahnost  at  the  same  instant  my 
horse  went  down,  having  stepped  in  a  gopher-hole. 
The  fall  did  not  hurt  me  much,  and  I  instantly  sprang 
to  my  feet.  The  Indian  had  also  recovered  himself, 
and  we  were  now  both  on  foot,  and  not  more  than 
twenty  paces  apart.  We  fired  at  each  other  simul- 
taneously. My  usual  luck  did  not  desert  me  on 
this  occasion,  for  his  bullet  missed  me,  while  mine 
struck  him  in  the  breast.  He  reeled  and  fell,  but  be- 
fore he  had  fairly  touched  the  ground  I  was  upon  him, 
knife  in  hand,  and  had  driven  the  keen-edged  weapon 


!:» 


lao 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


to  iu  hilt  in  his  heart.    Jerking  hit  war-bonnet  off,  I 
Kientifically  Kalped  him  in  about  five  seconds.  .  .  . 

"  The  Indians  came  charging  down  upon  me  from  a 
hill  in  hopes  of  cutting  me  off.  General  Merritt  .  .  . 
ordered  .  .  .  Company  K  to  hurty  to  my  rescue.  The 
order  came  none  too  soon.  ...  As  the  soldiers  came 
up  I  swung  the  Indian  chieftain's  topknot  and  bonnet 
in  the  air,  and  shouted:  'The  first  scalp  for  Cus- 
ter!"'  I 

Far  up  to  the  northward,  Sitting  Bull,  with  the  war 
chief  Spotted  Tail  and  about  three  thousand  warriors 
fled  from  the  scene  of  the  Custer  massacre.  And  as 
they  traveled  on  the  lonely  plains  they  came  to  a  little 
fort  with  the  gates  closed.  "Open  your  gates  and 
hand  out  your  grub,"  said  the  Indians. 
"  Come  and  get  the  grub,"  answered  the  fort. 
So  the  gates  were  thrown  open  and  the  three  thou- 
sand warriors  stormed  in  to  loot  the  fort.  They  found 
only  two  white  m<'n  standing  outside  a  door,  but  all 
round  the  square  the  log  buildings  were  loopholed 
and  from  every  hole  stuck  out  the  muzzle  of  a  rifle. 
The  Indians  were  caught  in  such  a  deadly  trap  that 
they  ran  for  their  lives  back  to  camp. 

Very  soon  news  reached  the  Blackfeet  that  their 
enemies  the  Sioux  were  camped  by  the  new  fort  at 
Wood  Mountain,  so  the  whole  nation  marched  to  wipe 
them  out,  and  Sitting  Bull  appealed  for  help  to  the 
white  men.  "  Be  good,"  said  the  fort,  "  and  nobody 
shall  hurt  you." 

So  the  hostile  armies  camped  on  either  side,  and 
the  thirty  white  men  kept  the  peace  between  them. 
One  day  the  Sioux  complained  that  the  Blackfeet  had 
stolen  fifty  horses.    So  six  of  the  white  men  were 


BUFFALO  BILL  131 

sent  to  the  Blackfoot  herd  to  bring  the  horses  back. 
They  did  rot  know  which  horses  to  select  so  they  drove 
off  one  h  .idred  fifty  for  good  measure  straight  at  a 
gallop  through  the  Blackfoot  camp,  closely  pursued 
by  that  indignant  nation.  Barely  in  time  they  ran  the 
stock  within  the  fort,  and  slammed  the  gates  home  in 
the  face  of  the  raging  Blackfeet.  They  were  delighted 
with  themselves  until  the  officer  commanding  fined 
them  a  month's  pay  each  for  insulting  the  Blackfoot 
nation. 

The  winter  came,  the  spring  and  then  the  summer, 
when  those  thirty  white  men  arrived  at  the  Canada- 
United  States  boundary  where  they  handed  over  three 
thousand  Sioux  prisoners  to  the  American  troops. 
From  that  time  the  redcoats  of  the  Royal  Northwest 
Mounted  Police  of  Canada  have  been  respected  on 
the  frontier. 

And  now  came  a  very  wonderful  adventure.  Sitting 
Bull,  the  leader  of  the  Sioux  nation  who  had  defeated 
General  Custer's  division  and  surrendered  his  army  to 
thirty  Canadian  soldiers,  went  to  Europe  to  take  part 
m  a  circus  personally  conducted  by  the  chief  of  scouts 
of  the  United  States  Army,  BuflFalo  BOl.  Poor  Sitting 
Bull  was  afterward  murdered  by  United  States  troops 
m  the  piteous  massacre  of  Wounded  Knee.  Buffata 
Bill  for  twenty-six  years  paraded  Europe  and  America 
with  his  gorgeous  Wild  West  show,  slowly  earning  the 
wealth  which  he  lavished  in  the  founding  of  Cody  City 
Wyoming.  ■" 

Toward  the  end  of  these  tours  I  used  to  frequent 
the  show  camp  much  like  a  stray  dog  expecting  to  be 
kicked,  would  spend  hours  swapping  lies  with  the 
cowboys  in  the  old  Deadwood  Coach,  or  sit  at  meat 


"3  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

with  the  colonel  and  his  six  hundred  followers.  On 
the  last  tour  the  old  man  was  thrown  by  a  bad  horse 
at  Bristol  and  afterward  rode  with  two  broken  bones 
in  splints.  Only  the  cowboys  knew,  who  told  me,  as 
day  by  day  I  watched  him  back  his  horse  from  the 
ring  with  all  the  old  incomparable  grace. 

He  went  back  to  build  a  million  dollar  irrigation 
ditch  for  his  little  city  on  the  frontier,  and  shortly 
afterward  the  newsp^rs  reported  that  my  friends  — 
the  Buffalo  Creek  Gang  of  robbers  —  attacked  his 
bank,  and  shot  the  cashier.  May  civilization  never 
shut  out  the  free  air  of  the  frontier  while  the  old  hero 
lives,  in  peace  and  honor,  loved  to  the  end  and  wor- 
shiped by  all  real  frontiersmen. 


XVII 

A.  D.  i860 

THE  AUSTRALIAN  DESERT 


■^^HEN  the  Eternal  Father  was  making  the  earth, 
▼'at  one  time  He  filled  the  sea  with  swimming 
dragons,  the  air  with  flying  dragons,  and  the  land  with 
hoppmg  dragons  big  as  elephants ;  but  they  were  not  a 
success,  and  so  He  swept  them  all  away.  After  that 
he  filled  the  southern  continents  with  a  small  improved 
hoppmg  dragon,  that  laid  no  eggs,  but  carried  the  baby 
in  a  pouch.  There  were  queer  half-invented  fish, 
shadeless  trees,  and  furry  running  birds  like  the  emu 
and  the  moa.  Then  He  swamped  that  southern  world 
under  the  sea,  and  moved  the  workshop  to  our  north- 
ern continems.  But  He  left  New  Zealand  and  Austra- 
lia just  as  they  were,  a  scrap  of  the  half-finished  world 
with  furry  running  birds,  the  hopping  kangaroo,  the 
shadeless  trees,  and  half-invented  fish. 

So  when  the  English  went  to  Australia  it  was  not  an 
ordinary  voyage,  but  a  journey  backward  through  the 
ages,  through  goodness  only  knows  how  many  millions 
of  years  to  the  fifth  day  of  creation.  It  was  like 
visiting  the  moon  or  Mars.  To  live  and  travel  in  such 
a  strange  land  a  man  must  be  native  bom,  bush  raised, 
and  cunnmg  at  that,  on  pain  of  death  by  famine. 


134 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


The  first  British  settlers,  too,  were  convicts.  The 
laws  were  so  bad  in  England  that  a  fellow  might  be 
deported  merely  for  giving  cheek  to  a  judge;  and  the 
convicts  on  the  whole  were  very  decent  people,  brutally 
treated  in  the  penal  settlements.  They  used  to  escape 
to  the  bush,  and  runaway  convicts  explored  Australia 
mainly  in  search  of  food.  One  of  them,  in  Tasmania, 
used,  whenever  he  escaped,  to  take  a  party  with  him 
and  eat  them  one  by  one,  until  he  ran  short  of  food 
and  had  to  surrender. 

Later  on  gold  was  discovered,  and  free  settlers 
drifted  in,  filling  the  country,  but  the  miners  and  the 
farmers  were  too  busy  earning  a  living  to  do  much  ex- 
ploration. So  the  exploring  fell  to  English  gentlemen, 
brave  men,  but  hopeless  tenderfeet,  who  knew  noth- 
ing of  bushcraft  and  generally  died  of  hunger  or 
thirst  in  districts  where  the  native-bom  colonial  grows 
rich  to-day. 

Edgar  John  Eyre,  for  instance,  a  Yorkshireman, 
landed  in  Sydney  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  at  twenty- 
five  was  a  rich  sheep-farmer,  appointed  by  government 
protector  of  the  black  fellows.  In  1840  the  colonists 
of  South  Australia  wanted  a  trail  for  drifting  sheep 
into  Western  Australia,  and  young  Eyre,  from  what 
he  had  learned  among  the  savages,  said  the  scheme 
was  all  bosh,  in  which  he  was  perfectly  right.  He 
thought  that  the  best  line  for  exploring  was  north- 
ward, and  set  out  to  prove  his  words,  but  got  tangled 
up  in  the  salt  bogs  surrounding  Torrens,  and  very 
nearly  lost  his  whole  party  in  an  attempt  to  wade 
across.  After  that  failure  he  feU  that  he  had  wasted 
the  money  subscribed  in  a  wildcat  project,  so  to  make 
good  set  out  again  to  find  a  route  for  sheep  alcmg  the 


THE  AUSTRALIAN  DESERT 


125 


waterless  south  coast  of  the  continent.  He  knew 
the  route  was  impossible,  but  it  is  a  poor  sort  of  cour- 
age that  has  to  feed  on  hope,  and  the  men  worth 
having  are  those  who  leave  their  hopes  behind  to 
march  light  while  they  do  their  duty. 

Eyre's  party  consisted  of  himself  and  his  ranch 
foreman  Baxter,  a  favorite  black  boy  Wylie,  who 
was  his  servant,  and  two  other  natives  who  had  been 
on  the  northward  trip.  They  had  nine  horses,  a  pony, 
six  sheep,  and  nine  weeks'  rations  on  the  pack  ani- 
mals. 

The  first  really  dry  stage  was  one  hundred  twenty- 
eight  miles  without  a  drop  of  water,  and  it  was  not 
the  black  fellows,  but  Eyre,  the  tenderfoot,  who  went 
ahead  and  found  tlie  well  that  saved  them.  The  ani- 
mals died  off  one  by  one,  so  that  the  stores  had  to  be 
left  behind,  and  there  was  no  food  but  rotten  horse- 
flesh which  caused  dysentery,  no  water  save  dew  col- 
lected with  a  sponge  from  the  bushes  after  the  cold 
nights.  The  two  black  fellows  deserted,  but  after 
three  days  came  back  penitent  and  starving,  thankful 
to  be  reinstated. 

These  black  fellows  did  not  believe  the  trip  was 
possible,  they  wanted  to  go  home,  they  thought  the 
expedition  well  worth  plundering,  and  so  one  morning 
while  Eyre  was  rounding  up  the  horses  they  shot  Bax- 
ter, plundered  the  camp  and  bolted.  'Only  Eyre  and 
his  boy  Wylie  were  left,  but  if  they  lived  the  deserters 
might  be  punished.  So  the  two  black  fellows,  armed 
with  Baxter's  gun,  tried  to  hunt  down  Eyre  and  his 
boy  with  a  view  to  murder.  They  came  so  near  at 
night  that  Eyre  once  heard  them  shout  to  Wylie  to 
desert.    Eyre  and  the  boy   stole  off,  marching  so 


126 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


rapidly  that  the  murderers   were  left  behind  and 
perished. 

p•1..^^t,•'"!i■'  "'"  *°"°"'"g  the  coast  of  the  Great 

and  the  Enghsh  skipper  fed  the  explorers  for  a  fort- 
night until  they  were  well  enough  to  go  on.  Twenty- 
three  more  days  of  terrible  suffering  brought  Eyre  and 
his  boy  looking  like  a  brace  of  scarecrows,  to  a  hilltop 
overlooking  the  town  of  Albany.  Th.y  had  reached 
Western  Australia,  the  first  travelers  (o  cross  from 
the  eastern  to  the  fljestem  colonies. 
In  after  years  Eyre  was  governor  of  Jamaica. 

II 
Australia  being  the  harshest  country  on  earth, 
breeds  the  hardiest  pioneers,  horsemen,  bushmen 
trackers,  hunters,  scouts,  who  find  the  worst  African 
or  Amencan  travel  a  sort  of  picnic.  The  bushie  is 
disappointing  to  town  Australians  because  he  has  no 
swaric,  and  nothing  of  the  brilliant  picturesqueness  of 
«^e  American  frontiersman.  He  is  only  a  tall,  gaunt 
man.  lithe  as  a  whip,  with  a  tongue  like  a  whiH^sh 
and  It  IS  on  bad  trips  or  in  battle  that  one  findrwhat 

vl  J  ?  ''  "  •""'*  ^'^^'^^  gentleman  with  a 
vein  of  poetry. 

wlirT''  "'^  Melbourne  people  were  cracked  in  i860 
l.rL    1  ^T^  ""  expedition  to  cross  Australia 

job^elected  tenderfeet.  Burke  was  an  Irishman,  late 
of  the  Hungarun  cavalry,  and  the  Royal  Irish  Con- 
stabulary, serving  as  an  officer  in  the  Victorian  police. 
Wills  was  a  Devon  man,  with  some  frontier  training 
on  the  sheep  runs,  but  had  taken  to  astronomy  and 


THE  AUSTRALIAN  DESERT 


127 


surveying.    There  were  several  other  white  men,  and 
three  Afghans  with  a  train  of  camels. 

They  left  Melbourne  with  pomp  and  circumstance, 
crossed  Victoria  through  civilized  country,  and  made 
a  base  camp  on  the  Darling  River  at  Menindie.  There 
Burke  sacked  two  mutinous  followers  and  his  doctor 
scuttled  in  a  funk,  so  he  took  on  Wright,  an  old  settler 
who  knew  the  way  to  Cooper's  Creek  four  hundred 
miles  farther  on.  Two  hundred  miles  out  Wright 
was  sent  back  to  bring  up  stores  from  Menindie,  while 
the  expedition  went  on  to  make  an  advanced  base  at 
Cooper's  Creek.  Everything  was  to  depend  on  the 
storage  of  food  at  that  base. 

While  they  were  waiting  for  Wright  to  come  up 
with  their  stores.  Wills  and  another  man  prospected 
ninety  miles  north  from  Cooper's  Creek  to  the  Stony 
Desert,  a  land  of  white  quartz  pebbles  and  polished 
red  sandstone  chips.  The  explorer  Sturt  had  been 
there,  and  come  back  blind.  No  man  had  been  beyond. 
Wills,  having  mislaid  his  three  camels,  came  back 
ninety  miles  afoot  without  water,  to  find  the  whole 
expedition  stuck  at  Cooper's  Creek,  waiting  for  stores. 
Mr.  Wright  at  Menindie  burned  time,  wasting  six 
weeks  before  he  attempted  to  start  with  the  stores,  and 
Burke  at  last  could  bear  the  delay  no  longer.  There 
were  thunder-storms  giving  promise  of  abundant  water 
for  once  in  the  northern  desert,  so  Burke  marched 
with  Wills,  King  and  Gray,  taking  a  horse  and  six 
camels. 

William  Brahe  was  left  in  charge  at  the  camp  at 
Cooper's  Creek,  to  remain  with  ample  provisions  until 
Wright  turned  up,  but  not  to  leave  except  in  dire 
extremity. 


128 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Burke's  party  crossed  the  glittering  Stony  Desert, 
and  watching  the  birds  who  always  know  the  way  to 
water,  they  came  to  a  fine  lake,  where  they  spent 
Christmas  day.  Beyond  that  they  came  to  the  Dia- 
mantina  and  again  there  was  water.  The  country  im- 
proved, there  were  northward  flowing  streams  to  cheer 
thru  on  their  way,  and  at  last  they  came  to  salt  water 
at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Carpentaria.  They  had 
crossed  the  continent  from  south  to  north. 

With  blithe  hearts  they  set  out  on  their  return,  and 
if  they  had  to  kill  tjie  camels  for  food,  then  to  eat 
snakes,  which  disagreed  with  them,  still  there  would 
be  plenty  when  they  reached  Cooper's  Creek.  Gray 
complained  of  being  ill,  but  pilfering  stores  is  not  a 
proper  symptom  of  any  disease,  so  Burke  gave  him  a 
thrashing  by  way  of  medicine.  When  he  died,  they 
delayed  one  day  for  his  burial ;  one  day  too  much,  for 
when  they  reached  Cooper's  Creek  they  were  just  nine 
hours  late.  Thirty-one  miles  they  made  in  the  last 
march  and  reeled  exhausted  into  an  empty  camp 
ground.  Cut  in  the  bark  of  a  tree  were  the  words 
"Dig,  31  April  1861."  They  dug  a  few  inches  into 
the  earth  where  they  found  a  box  of  provisions,  and  a 
bottle  containing  a  letter. 

"  The  depot  party  of  the  V.  E.  E.  leave  this  camp 
to-day  to  return  to  the  Darling.  I  intend  to  go  S.  E. 
from  camp  sixty  miles  to  get  into  our  old  track  near 
BuIIoo.  Two  of  my  companions  and  myself  are  quite 
well ;  the  third.  Patten,  has  been  unable  to  walk  for  the 
last  eighteen  days,  as  his  leg  has  been  severely  hurt 
when  thrown  from  one  of  the  horses.  No  person  has 
been  up  here  from  Darling.    We  have  six  camels  and 


THE  AUSTRALIAN  DESERT 


139 


twelve  horses  in  good  working  condition.  William 
Brahe." 

It  would  be  hopeless  with  two  exhausted  camels  to 
try  and  catch  up  with  that  march.  Down  Cooper's 
Creek  one  hundred  fifty  miles  the  South  Australian 
Mounted  Police  had  an  outpost,  and  the  box  of  pro- 
visions would  last  out  that  short  journey. 

They  were  too  heart-sick  to  make  an  inscription  on 
the  tree,  but  left  a  letter  in  the  bottle,  buried.  A  few 
days  later  Brahe  returned  with  the  industrious  Mr. 
Wright  and  his  supply  train.  Here  is  the  note  in 
Wright's  diary:  — 

"  May  eighth.  This  morning  I  reached  the  Cooper's 
Creek  depot  and  found  no  sign  of  Mr.  Burke's  having 
visited  the  creek,  or  the  natives  having  disturbed  the 
stores." 

Only  a  few  miles  away  the  creek  ran  out  into  chan- 
nels of  dry  sand  where  Burke,  Wills  and  King  were 
starving,  ragged  beggars  fed  by  the  charitable  black 
fellows  on  fish  and  a  seed  called  nardoo,  of  which 
they  made  their  bread.  There  were  nice  fat  rats  also, 
delicious  baked  in  their  skins,  and  the  natives  brought 
them  fire-wood  for  the  camp. 

Again  they  attempted  to  reach  the  Mounted  Police 
outpost,  but  the  camels  died,  the  water  failed,  and 
they  starved.  Burke  sent  Wills  back  to  Cooper's 
Creek.  "  No  trace,"  wrote  Wills  in  his  journal,  "  of 
any  one  except  the  blacks  having  been  here  since  we 
left."  Brahe  and  Wright  had  left  no  stores  at  the 
camp  ground. 

Had  they  only  been  bushmen  the  tracks  would  have 
told  Wills  of  help  within  his  reach,  the  fish  hooks 


130  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

would  have  won  them  food  in  plenty.  It  is  curious, 
too,  that  Burke  died  after  a  meal  of  crow  and  nardoo, 
there  being  neither  sugar  uor  fat  in  these  foods,  with- 
out which  they  can  not  sustain  a  man's  life.  Then 
King  left  Burke's  body,  shot  three  crows  and 
brought  them  to  Wills,  who  was  lying  dead  in  camp. 
Three  months  afterward  a  relief  party  found  King 
living  among  the  natives  "  wasted  to  a  shadow,  and 
hardly  to  be  distinguished  as  a  civilized  being  but  by 
the  remnants  of  the  clothes  upon  him." 

"  They  should  not  have  gone,"  said  one  pioneer  of 
these  lost  explorers.  "They  weren't  bushmen." 
Afterward  a  Mr.  Collis  and  his  wife  lived  four  years 
in  plenty  upon  the  game  and  fish  at  the  Innaminka 
water-hole  where  poor  Burke  died  of  hunger. 

Such  were  the  first  crossings  from  east  to  west, 
and  from  south  to  north  of  the  Australian  continent 


XVIII 

A.  D.  1867 

THE  HERO-STATESMAN 

'  I  ""HERE  is  no  greater  man  now  living  in  the 
-■■  world  than  Diaz  the  hero-statesman,  father  of 
Mexico.  What  other  soldier  has  scored  fourteen 
sieges  and  fifty  victorious  battles?  What  other 
statesman,  having  fought  his  way  to  the  throne,  has 
built  a  civilized  nation  out  of  chaos? 

This  Spanish-red  Indian  half-breed  began  work  at 
the  age  of  seven  as  errand  boy  in  a  shop.  At  four- 
teen he  was  earning  his  living  as  a  private  tutor  while 
he  worked  through  college  for  the  priesthood.  At 
seventeen  he  was  a  soldier  in  the  local  militia  and  saw 
his  country  overthrown  by  the  United  States,  which 
seized  three-fourths  of  all  her  territories.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one.  Professor  Diaz,  in  the  chair  of  Roman 
law  at  Oaxaca,  was  working  double  tides  as  a  law- 
yer's clerk. 

In  the  Mexican  "republic"  it  is  a  very  serious 
offense  to  vote  for  the  Party-out-of-office,  and  the 
only  way  to  support  the  opposition  is  to  get  out  with 
a  rifle  and  fight.  So  when  Professor  Diaz  voted  at 
the  next  general  election  he  had  to  fly  for  his  life. 
After  several  months  of  hard  fighting  he  emerged 
from  his  first  revolution  as  mayor  of  a  village. 
131 


133  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

The  villagers  were  naked  Indians,  and  found  their 
new  mayor  an  unexpected  terror.  He  drUled  them 
mto  soldiers,  marched  them  to  his  native  city  Oaxaca, 
captured  the  place  by  assault,  drove  out  a  local 
usurper  who  was  making  things  too  hot  for  the  citi- 
zens, and  then  amid  the  wild  rejoicings  that  fol- 
lowed, was  promoted  to  a  capuincy  in  the  national 
guards. 

Captain  Diai  explained  to  his  national  guards  that 
they  were  fine  men,  but  needed  a  little  tactical  exer- 
cise. So  he  took  them  out  for  a  gentle  course  of 
maneuvers,  to  try  their  teeth  on  a  rebellion  which  hap- 
pened to  be  camped  conveniently  in  the  neighborhood. 
When  he  had  finished  exercising  his  men,  there  was 
no  rebellion  left,  o  he  marched  them  home.  He  had 
to  come  home  because  he  was  dangerously  wounded. 
It  must  be  explained  that  there  were  two  big  polit- 
ical parties,  the  clericals,  and  the  liberals— both 
pledged  to  steal  everything  in  sight  Diaz  was 
scarcely  healed  of  his  wound,  when  a  clerical  excur- 
sion came  down  to  steal  the  city.  He  thrashed  them 
SKk.  he  chased  them  until  they  dropped,  and  thrashed 
them  agam  until  they  scattered  in  helpless  panic. 

The  liberal  president  rewarded  Colonel  Diaz  with 
a  post  of  such  eminent  danger,  that  he  had  to  fight  for 
h.s  life  through  two  whole  years  before  he  could  eet 
a  vacation.  Then  Oaxaca,  to  procure  him  a  holi<fay, 
sent  up  the  young  soldier  as  member  of  pariiament  to 
the  capital. 

Of  course  the  clerical  army  objected  strongly  to 
the  debates  of  a  liberal  congress  sitting  in  parlia- 
ment at  the  capital.  They  came  and  spoiled  the  ses- 
sion by  laying  si^e  to  the  City  of  Mexico.    Then  the 


THE  HERO-STATESMAN  133 

member  for  Oaxaca  was  deputed  to  arrange  with  these 
clericals. 

He  left  his  seat  in  the  house,  gathered  his  forces, 
and  chased  that  clerical  army  for  two  months.  At 
last,  dead  weary,  the  clericals  had  camped  for  sup- 
per, when  Diaz  romped  in  and  thrashed  them.  He 
got  that  supper. 

So  disgusted  were  the  clerical  leaders  that  they 
now  invited  Napoleon  III  to  send  an  army  of  in- 
vasion. Undismayed,  the  unfortunate  liberals  fought 
a  joint  army  of  French  and  clericals,  checked  them 
under  the  snows  of  Mount  Orizaba,  and  so  routed 
them  before  the  walls  of  Puebia  that  it  was  nine 
months  before  they  felt  well  enough  to  renew  the  at- 
tack. The  day  of  that  victory  is  celebrated  by  the 
Mexicans  as  their  great  national  festival. 

In  time,  the  French,  forty  thousand  strong,  not  to 
mention  their  clerical  allies,  returned  to  the  assault 
of  Puebia,  and  in  front  of  the  city  found  Diaz  com- 
manding an  outpost.  The  place  was  only  a  large  rest- 
house  for  pack-trains,  and  when  the  outer  gate  was 
carried,  the  French  charged  in  with  a  rush.  One  man 
remained  to  defend  the  courtyard.  Colonel  Diaz,  with 
a  field-piece,  firing  shrapnel,  mowing  away  the  French 
in  swathes  until  his  people  rallied  from  their  panic, 
charged  across  the  square,  and  recovered  the  lost  gates. 
The  city  held  out  for  sixty  days,  but  succumbed  to 
famme,  and  the  French  could  not  persuade  such  a 
man  as  Diaz  to  give  them  any  parole.  They  locked 
hm>  up  in  a  tower,  and  his  dungeon  had  but  a  little 
iron-barred  window  far  up  in  the  walls.  Diaz  got 
through  those  bars,  escaped,  rallied  a  handful  of  Mex- 
icans, armed  them  hy  oijituring  a  French  coovoy  camp. 


»M  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

raised  the  southern  states  of  Mexico,  and  for  two 
years  held  his  own  against  the  armies  of  France 

President  Juarez  had  been  driven  away  into  the 
northern  desert,  a  fugitive,  the  Emperor  Maximilian 
reigned  m  the  capital,  and  Marshal  Bazaine  com- 
manded the  French  forces  that  tried  to  conquer  Diaz 
w  the  south.  The  Mexican  hero  had  three  thousand 
men  and  a  chain  of  forts.  Behind  that  chain  of  forts 
he  was  busy  reorganizing  the  government  of  the  south- 
em  states,  and  among  other  details,  founding  a  school 
lor  girls  m  his  native  city. 

Marshal  Bazaine,' the  traitor,  who  afterward  sold 
France  to  the  Germans,  attempted  to  bribe  Diaz,  but. 
failing  m  that,  brought  nearly  iifty  thousand  men  to 
attack  three  thousand.  Slowly  he  drove  the  unfortu- 
nate nationalists  to  Oaxaca  and  there  Diaz  made  one 
of  the  most  glorious  defenses  in  the  annals  of  war. 
He  melted  the  cathedral  bells  for  cannon-balls,  he 
mounted  a  gun  in  the  empty  belfry,  where  he  and  his 
starving  fo  lowers  fought  their  last  great  fight,  until 
he  stood  alone  among  the  dead,  firing  charge  after 
charge  into  the  siege  lines.  »  6         « 

Once  more  he  was  cast  into  prison,  only  to  make 
ouch  frantic  attempts  at  escape  that  in  the  end  he  suc- 
ceeded in  scaling  an  impossible  wall.  He  was  an  out- 
law now,  Iivmg  by  robbery,  hunted  like  a  wolf,  and 
yet  on  the  second  day  after  that  escape,  he  commanded 

Hf,iK  rf""  ""''  '^P*""'^  '^  French  garrison. 
He  ambuscaded  an  expedition  sent  against  him,  raised 
an  army,  and  reconquered  Southern  Mexico. 

JLZ"  ^'""  ^'^^^  *''"'  *•'*  United  States  com- 
rcHcd  the  French  to  retire.  President  Juarez  marched 
irom  the  northern  ^gserts,  gathering  the  people  as  be 


THE  HERO-STATESMAN 


I3S 


came,  besieged  Queretaro,  captured  and  shot  the  Em- 
peror Maximilian.  Diaz  marched  from  the  south,  en- 
tered the  City  of  Mexico,  handed  over  the  capital  to 
his  triumphant  president,  resigned  his  commission  as 
commander-in-chief,  and  retired  in  deep  contentment 
to  manufacture  sugar  in  Oaxaca. 

For  nine  years  the  hero  made  sugar.  Over  an  area 
in  the  north  as  large  as  France,  the  Apache  Indians 
butchered  every  man,  woman  and  child  with  fiendish 
tortures.  The  whole  distracted  nation  cried  in  its 
agony  for  a  leader,  but  every  respectable  man  who 
tried  to  help  was  promptly  denounced  by  the  gov- 
ernment, stripped  of  his  possessions  and  driven  into 
exile.  At  last  General  Diaz  could  bear  it  no  longer, 
made  a  few  remarks  and  was  prosecuted.  He  fled, 
and  there  began  a  period  of  the  wildest  adventures 
conceivable,  while  the  government  attempted  to  hunt 
him  down.  He  raised  an  insurrection  in  the  north, 
but  after  a  series  of  extraordinary  victories,  found 
the  southward  march  impossible.  When  next  he  en- 
tered the  republic  of  Mexico,  he  came  disguised  as  a 
laborer  by  sea  to  the  port  of  Tampico. 

At  Vera  Cruz  he  landed,  and  after  a  series  of  almost 
miraculous  escapes  from  capture,  succeeded  in  walk- 
ing to  Oaxaca.  There  he  raised  his  last  rebellion,  and 
with  four  thousand  followers  ambuscaded  a  govern- 
ment aitny,  taking  three  thousand  prisoners,  the  guns 
and  all  the  transport.  President  Lerdo  heard  the 
news,  and  bolted  with  all  the  cash.  General  Diaz 
took  the  City  of  Mexico  and  declared  himself  presi- 
dent of  the  republic. 

Whether  as  bandit  or  king,  Diaz  has  always  been 
the  handsomest  man  in  Mexico,  the  most  courteous, 


136 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


the  most  charming,  and  terrific  as  lightning  when  in 
action.  The  country  suffered  from  a  very  plague  of 
politicians  until  one  day  he  dropped  in  as  a  visitor, 
quite  unexpected,  at  Vera  Cruz,  selected  the  eleven 
leading  politicians  without  the  slightest  bias  as  to  their 
views,  put  them  up  against  the  city  wall  and  shot  them. 
Politics  was  abated. 

The  leading  industry  of  the  country  was  highway 
robbery,  until  the  president,  exquisitely  sympathetic, 
invited  all  ihe  principal  robbers  to  consult  with  him 
as  to  details  of  government.  He  formed  them  into  a 
body  of  mounted  pol|ice,  which  swept  like  a  whirl- 
wind through  the  republic  and  put  a  sudden  end  to 
brigandage.  Capital  punishment  not  being  permitted 
by  the  humane  government,  the  robbers  were  all  shot 
for  "  attempting  to  escape." 

Next  in  importance  was  the  mining  of  silver,  and 
the  recent  decline  in  its  value  threatened  to  ruin  Mex- 
ico. By  the  magic  of  his  finance,  Diaz  used  that 
crushing  reverse  to  lace  the  country  with  railroads, 
equip  the  cities  with  electric  lights  and  traction  power 
far  in  advance  of  any  appliances  we  have  in  Englsmd, 
open  great  seaports,  and  litter  all  the  states  of  Mexico 
with  prosperous  factories.  Meanwhile  he  paid  off  the 
national  debt,  and  made  his  coinage  sound. 

He  never  managed  himself  to  speak  any  other  lan- 
guage than  his  own  majestic,  slow  Castilian,  but  he 
knew  that  English  is  to  be  the  tongue  of  mankind. 
Every  child  in  Mexico  bad  to  go  to  school  to  learn 
English. 

And  this  greatest  of  modem  sovereigns  went  about 
among  his  people  the  simplest,  most  accessible  of  men. 
"They  may  kill  me  if  they  want  to,"  he  said  once. 


THE  HERO-STATESMAN 


137 


"  but  they  don't  want  to.  They  rather  like  me."  So 
one  might  see  him  taking  his  morning  ride,  wearing 
the  beautiful  leather  dress  of  the  Mexican  horsemen, 
or  later  in  the  day,  in  a  tweed  suit  going  down  to  the 
office  by  tram  car,  or  on  his  holidays  hunting  the  nine- 
foot  cats  which  we  call  cougar,  or  of  a  Sunday  going 
to  church  with  his  wife  and  children.  On  duty  he 
was  an  absolute  monarch,  off  duty  a  kindly  citizen, 
and  it  seemed  to  all  of  us  who  knew  the  country  that 
he  would  die  as  he  had  lived,  still  in  harness.  One 
did  not  expect  too  much — the  so-called  elections 
were  a  pleasant  farce,  but  the  country  was  a  deal  better 
governed  than  the  western  iialf  of  the  United  States. 
Any  felknv  entitled  to  a  linen  collar  in  Europe  wore  a 
revolver  in  Mexico,  as  part  of  the  dress  of  a  gentle- 
man, but  in  the  wildest  districts  I  never  carried  a 
cartridge.  Diaz  had  made  his  country  a  land  of 
peace  and  order,  strong,  respected,  prosperous,  witij 
every  outward  sign  of  coming  greatness.  Exceptiag 
only  Napcdeon  and  the  late  Japanese  emperor,  he 
was  boft  in  war  a»id  peace  the  greatest  leader  our 
world  has  e»er  known.  But  the  people  proved  un- 
worthy of  tlKJr  chief;  to-day  he  is  a  broken  exile, 
ami  .DtexKD  hats  lapsed  back  into  anardiy. 


XIX 

A.  D.  1870 

THE  SPECIAL  CORRESPONDENT 

A  LADY  who  renjembers  John  Rowlands  at  the 
■«  *■  workhouse  school  in  Denbigh  tells  me  that  he 
was  a  lazy  disagreeable  boy.  He  is  also  described 
as  a  "  full-faced,  stubborn,  self-willed,  round-headed 
uncompromising,  deep  fellow.  He  was  particularly 
strong  m  the  trunk,  but  not  very  smart  or  elegant 
about  the  legs,  which  were  disproportionately  short. 
His  temperament  was  unusually  secretive;  he  could 
stand  no  chaff  nor  the  least  bit  of  humor." 

Perhaps  that  is  why  he  ran  away  to  sea ;  but  any- 
way a  sailing  ship  landed  him  in  New  Orleans,  where 
a  rich  merchant  adopted  him  as  a  son.  Of  course  a 
workhouse  boy  has  nothing  to  be  patriotic  about,  so 
It  was  quite  natural  that  this  Welsh  youth  should  be- 
come a  good  American,  also  that  he  should  give  up 
the  name  his  mother  bore,  taking  that  of  his  bene- 
factor, Henry  M.  Stanley.  The  old  man  died,  leav- 
ing him  nothing,  and  for  two  years  there  is  no  record 
until  the  American  Civil  War  gave  him  a  chance  of 
proving  his  patriotism  to  his  adopted  country.  He 
was  so  tremendously  patriotic  that  he  served  on  both 
sides,  first  in  the  confederate  army,  then  in  the  fed- 
eral navy.    He  proved  a  very  brave  man,  and  after 


THE  SPECIAL  CORRESPONDENT      139 

the  war,  distinguished  himself  as  a  special  corre- 
spondent during  an  Indian  campaign  in  the  West 
Then  he  joined  the  staff  of  the  New  York  Herdd 
serving  m  the  Abyssinian  War,  and  the  civil  war  in 
Spam.  He  allowed  the  Herald  to  contradict  a  rumor 
that  he  was  a  Welshman.  "  Mr.  Stanley,"  said  the 
paper,  "is  neither  an  Ap-Jones,  nor  an  Ap-Thomas. 
Missouri  and  not  Wales  is  his  birthplace." 

Privatdy  he  spent  his  holidays  with  hi.  mother  and 
family  m  Wait.,  leaking  W«!Wi  no  doubt  with  a 
strong  Awericafi  aecent.  The  wSirtew-aAed  American 
has  always  a  piercing  twang,  even  if  he  has  adopted 
as  his  "native"  land,  soft-voiced  Missouri,  or 
polished  Louisiana. 

In  those  days  Doctor  Livingstone  was  missing.     The 
gentle  daring  explorer  had  found  Lakes  Nyassa  and 
Tanganyika,  and  to  the  westward  of  them,  a  mile 
wide  river,  the  Lualaba,  which  he  supposed  to  be 
headwaters  of  the   Nile.     He  was  slowh    dying  of 
lever,  almost  penniless,  and  always  when  he  reached 
the  verge  of  some  new  discovery,  his  cowardly  negro 
carriers  revolted,  or  ran  away,  leaving  him  to  his  fate 
No  word  of  him  had  reached  the  world  for  years 
fcngland  was  anxious  as  to  the  fate  of  one  of  her 
greatest  men,  so  there  were  various  attempts  to  send 
relief,    delayed    by    the    e.xpense,    and    not    perhaps 
handled  by  really  first-rate  men.     To  fi„d  Livingstone 
would  be  a  most  tremendous  world-wide  advertise- 
ment, say  for  a  patent-pill  man,  a  soap  manufacturer 
or    a    newspaper.     Ail    lliat    uas     needed    was    un- 
hmited  cash,  and  the  services  of  a  first  rate  practical 
traveler,  vulgar  enough   to   use   the  lost  hero  as   so 
much     copy"  for  his  newspaper.    The  New  York 


140  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Herald  had  the  money,  and  in  Stanley,  the  very  man 
for  the  job. 

Not  that  the  Herald,  or  Stanley  cared  twopence 
about  the  fate  of  Livingstone.  The  journal  sent  the 
man  to  make  a  big  journey  through  Asia  Minor  and 
Persia  on  his  way  to  Zanzibar.  T,:o  more  Living, 
stones  rescue  was  delayed  the  better  the  "ad"  for 
Stanley  and  the  Herald. 

As  to  the  journey,  Stanley's  story  has  been  amply 
advertised  and  we  have  no  other  version  because  his 
white  followers  died.  He  found  Livingstone  at 
Ujiji  on  Lake  Tanganyika,  and  had  the  grace  to 
reverence,  comfort  and  succor  a  dying  man. 

As  to  Stanley's  magnificent  feat  of  exploring  the 
great  lakes,  and  descending  Livingstone's  river  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Congo,  again  his  story  is  well  exploited 
while  the  version  of  his  white  followers  is  missing 
because  they  gave  their  lives. 

In  Stanley's  expedition  which  founded  the  Congo 
State,  and  m  his  relief  of  Emin  Pasha,  the  white  men 
were  more  fortunate,  and  some  lived.  It  is  rumored 
hat  they  did  not  like  .Mr.  Stanley,  but  his  negro  fol- 
lowers most  certainly  adored  him,  serving  in  one  jour- 
ney after  another.  There  can  be  no  doubt  too,  that 
with  the  unlimited  funds  that  financed  and  his  own 
fine  merits  as  a  traveler,  SUnley  did  more  than  any 
other  explorer  to  open  up  the  dark  continent,  and  to 
solve  Its  age-long  mysteries.  It  was  not  his  fault  that 
Livingstom:  stayed  on  in  the  wilderness  to  die,  that 
«ie  Congo  Free  State  became  the  biggest  scandal  of 
modern  times,  or  that  Emin  Pasha  flatly  refused  to  be 
rescued  from  governing  the  Soudan. 
Stanley  lived  to  reap  the  rewards  of  his  great  deeds 


THE  SPECIAL  CORRESPONDENT  141 
to  iixget  that  he  was  a  native  of  Missouri  and  a  free- 
born  American  citizen,  to  accept  the  honor  of 
^iighAood  and  to  sit  in  the  Britiri.  parliament. 
Whether  as  a  Welshman,  or  an  American,  a  confed- 
«»te.  or  a  federal,  a  Belgian  subject  or  a  Britisher, 
he  always  knew  on  which  side  bis  bread  was  buttered. 


XX 

A.D.  1871 

LORD  STRATHCONA 

¥T  is  nearly  a  century  now  since  Lord  Strathcona 
■I  was  born  in  a  Highland  cottage.  His  father, 
Alexander  Smith,  kept  a  little  shop  at  Forres,  in 
Elgin;  his  mother,  Barbara  Stewart,  knew  while  she 
reared  the  lad  that  the  world  would  hear  of  him. 
His  school,  founded  by  a  returned  adventurer,  was 
one  which  sent  out  settlers  for  the  colonies,  soldiers 
for  the  army,  miners  for  the  gold-fields,  bankers  for 
England,  men  to  every  comer  of  the  world.  As  the 
lad  grew,  he  saw  the  soldiers,  the  sailors,  the  adven- 
turers, who  from  time  to  time  came  tired  home  to 
Forres,  and  among  these  was  his  uncle,  John  Stewart, 
famous  in  the  annals  of  the  Canadian  frontier,  rich, 
distinguished,  commending  all  youngsters  to  do  as  he 
had  done.  When  Donald  Smith  was  in  his  eighteenth 
year,  this  uncle  procured  him  a  clerkship  in  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company. 

Canada  was  in  revolt  when  in  1837  the  youngster 
reached  Montreal,  for  Robert  Nelson  had  proclaimed 
a  Canadian  republic  and  the  British  troops  were  busy 
driving  the  republicans  into  the  United  States.  So 
there  was  bloodshed,  the  burning  of  houses,  the  filling 
of  the  jails  with  rebels  to  be  convicted  presently  and 
143 


LORD  STRATHCONA 


'43 

hanged.  Out  of  all  this  noi«  and  confusion.  Donald 
Smith  was  sent  into  the  silence  of  Ubrador,  the  un- 
known wUdemess  of  the  Northeast  Territor^,  where 
Ae  first  explorer.  McLean,  was  searching  for  tribes 
of  Eskunos    hat  might  be   induced   to  trade   with 

(1838)  wrote  McLean.  "I  was  gratified  by  the  ar- 
rival  of  despatches  from  Canada  by  a  young  derk 
.ppomted  to  the  district.  By  him  we  r'eceHy  he 
first  mtelhgence  of  the  stirring  events  which  had  taken 

^    vu'"u  ^'  '°'°"'"  *•"""«  *•>«  preceding  year."    So 
Sm.th  had  taken  a  year  to  carry  the  news  of  th^ 
Canad.a„  revolt  to  that  remote  camp  of  the  explorers. 
Henceforward,  for  many  years  there  exists  no  pub- 
he  record  of  Donald  Smith's  career,  and  he  has  flath^ 
refused  to  tell  the  stoiy  lest  he  should  appear  to  2 
adverfsmg.    His  work  consisted  of  tradinrw  tJ  the 
^vages  for  skms.  of  commanding  small  out^sts.  heal! 
mg  the  s.ck,  admm.stering  justice,  bookkeeping,  and 
of  immense  journeys  by  canoe  in  summer,  or  wrfole 
drawn  by  a  team  of  dogs  in  winter.    ^  winf^  s 
arctic  m  that  Northeast  Territoiy.  and  a  ve^X  - 
ant   season   between   blizzards,  but  the   summer    s 
cursed  with  a  plague  of  insects,  black  flier^  day 
mosquitoes  by  night  almost  beyond  endurance.    Like 
hlX"""  '",*!  ""''"^  °^  *^'  =°«P="y'  Mr.  Smith 
of  the  snow-storms,  the  wrecking  of  canoes.    There  is 
but  one  story  extant.    His  eyesight  seemed  to  be  fail- 
mg,  and  after  much  pain  he  ventured  on  a  journey 
of  many  months  to  seek  the  help  of  a  doctor  in 
Montreal.     Sir    George    Simpson,    governor   of   thj 
company,  met  hrni  in  the  outskirts  of  the  city. 


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144  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

"  Well,  young  man,"  he  said,  "  why  are  you  not  at 
your  post?" 

"  My  eyes,  sir;  they  got  so  bad,  I've  come  to  see  a 
doctor." 

"And  who  gave  you  permission  to  leave  your 
post?" 

"  No  one,  sir."  It  would  have  taken  a  year  to  get 
permission,  and  his  need  was  urgent. 

"Then,  sir,"  answered  the  governor,  "if  it's  a 
question  between  your  eyes,  and  your  service  in  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  you'll  take  my  advice,  and 
return  this  instant  t^  your  post." 

Without  another  word,  without  a  glance  toward 
the  city  this  man  turned  on  his  tracks,  and  set  oflf  to 
tramp  a  thousand  miles  back  to  his  duty. 

The  man  who  has  learned  to  obey  has  learned  to 
command,  and  wherever  Smith  was  stationed,  the 
books  were  accurate,  the  trade  was  profitable.  He 
was  not  heard  of  save  in  the  return  of  profits,  while 
step  by  step  he  rose  to  higher  and  higher  command, 
until  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  he  was  appointed  gov- 
ernor of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  sovereign  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  reigning  over  a  country 
nearly  as  large  as  Europe.  To  his  predecessors  this 
had  been  the  crowning  of  an  ambitious  life;  to  him,  it 
was  only  the  beginning  of  his  great  career. 

The  Canadian  colonies  were  then  being  welded  into 
a  nation  and  the  first  act  of  the  new  Dominion  govern- 
ment was  to  buy  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
the  whole  of  its  enormous  empire,  two  thouMnd 
miles  wide  and  nearly  five  thousand  miles  long. 
Never  was  there  such  a  sale  of  tand,  at  such  a  price, 
for  the  cash  payment  worked  out  at  about  two 


LORD  STRATHCCNA 


145 


shillings  per  square  mile.  Two-thirds  of  the  money 
Went  to  the  sleeping  partners  of  the  company  in  Eng- 
land; one-third  —  thanks  to  Mr.  Smith's  persuasion 
—  was  granted  to  the  working  officers  in  Rupert's 
Land.  Mr.  Smith's  own  share  seems  to  have  been  the 
little  nest  egg  from  which  his  fortune  has  hatched. 

When  the  news  of  the  great  land  sale  reached  the 
Red  River  of  the  north,  the  people  there  broke  oul 
in  revolt,  set  up  a  republic,  and  installed  Louis  Riel 
as  president  at  Fort  Garry. 

Naturally  this  did  not  meet  the  views  of  the 
Canadian  government,  which  had  bought  the  country, 
or  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which  owned  the 
stolen  fort.  Mr.  Smith,  governor  of  the  company, 
was  sent  at  once  as  commissioner  for  the  Canadian 
government  to  restore  the  settlement  to  order.  On 
his  arrival  the  rebel  president  promptly  put  him  in 
jail,  and  openly  threatened  his  life.  In  this  awkward 
situation,  Mr.  Smith  contrived  not  only  to  stay  alive, 
but  to  conduct  a  public  meeting,  with  President  Riel 
acting  as  his  interpreter  to  the  French  half-breed 
rebels.  The  temperature  at  this  outdoor  meeting  was 
twenty  degrees  below  zero,  with  a  keen  wind,  but  in 
course  of  five  hours'  debating,  Mr.  Smith  so  under- 
mined the  rebel  authority  that  from  that  time  it 
began  to  collapse.  Afterward,  although  the  rebels 
murdered  one  prisoner,  and  times  were  more  than  ex- 
citing, Mr.  Smith's  policy  gradually  sapped  the  re- 
bellion, until,  when  the  present  Lord  Wolseley  arrived 
with  British  troops,  Riel  and  his  deluded  half-breeds 
bolted.  So,  thanks  to  Mr.  Smith,  Fort  Garry  is  now 
Winnipeg,  the  central  city  of  Canada,  capital  of  her 
central  province,  Manitoba. 


146 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


But  when  Sir  Donald  Smith  had  resigned  from  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  service,  and  became  a  poli- 
tician, he  schemed,  with  unheard-of  daring,  for  even 
Sreater  ends.  At  his  suggestion,  the  Northwest 
Mounted  Police  was  formed  and  sent  out  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  Great  Plains.  That  added  a  wheat 
field  to  Canada  which  will  very  soon  be  able  to  feed 
the  British  empire.  Next  he  speculated  with  every 
dollar  he  could  raise,  on  a  rusty  railway  track,  which 
some  American  huijders  had  abandoned  because  they 
were  bankrupt.  He  got  the  rail  head  into  Winnipeg, 
and  a  large  trade  opened  with  the  United  States.  So 
began  the  boom  that  turned  Manitoba  into  a 
populous  country,  where  the  buffalo  had  ranged  be- 
fore his  coming.  Now  he  was  able  to  startle  the 
Canadian  government  with  the  warning  that  unless 
they  hurried  up  with  a  railway,  binding  the  whole 
Dominion  from  ocean  to  ocean,  all  this  rich  western 
country  would  drift  into  the  United  States.  When 
the  government  had  failed  in  an  attempt  to  build  the 
impossible  railway,  Sir  Donald  got  Montreal  financiers 
together,  cousins  and  friends  of  his  own,  staked  every 
dollar  he  had,  made  them  gamble  as  heavily,  and  set 
to  work  on  the  biggest  road  ever  constructed.  The 
country  to  be  traversed  was  almost  unexplored,  almost 
uninhabited  except  by  savages,  fourteen  hundred  miles 
of  rock  and  forest,  a  thousand  miles  of  plains,  six 
hundred  miles  of  high  alps. 

The  syndicate  building  the  road  consisted  of 
merchants  in  a  provincial  town  not  bigger  then  than 
Bristol,  and  when  they  met  for  business  it  was  to 
wonder  vaguely  where  the  month's  pay  was  to  come 
from  for  their  men.    They  would  part  for  the  night 


LORD  STRATHCONA  147 

to  think,  and  by  morning,  Donald  Smith  would  say, 
"Well,  here's  another  million  — that  ought  to  do  for 
a  bit"  On  November  seven,  1885,  he  drove  the  last 
spike,  the  golden  spike,  that  completed  the  Canadian 
Pacific  railway,  and  welded  Canada  into  a  Uving 
nation. 

Since  then  Lord  Strathcona  has  endowed  a  uni- 
versity and  given  a  big  hospital  to  Montreal.  At  a 
cost  of  three  hundred  thousand  pounds  he  presented 
the  famous  regiment  known  as  Strathcona's  Horse,  to 
the  service  of  his  country,  and  to-day,  in  his  ninety- 
third  year  is  working  hard  as  Canadian  high  commis- 
sioner in  London. 


H 


XXI 

A.D.  1872 
THE  SEA  HUNTERS 

THE  Japanese  have  heroes  and  adventurers  just 
as  fine  as  our  own,  most  valiant  and  worthy 
knights.  Unhappily  I  am  too  stupid  to  remember 
their  honorable  names,  to  understand  their  mo- 
tives, or  to  make  out  exactly  what  they  were  playing 
at.  It  is  rather  a  pity  they  have  to  be  left  out,  but  at 
least  we  can  deal  with  one  very  odd  phase  of  adven- 
ture in  the  Japan  seas. 

The  daring  seamen  of  old  Japan  used  to  think 
nothing  of  crossing  the  Pacific  to  raid  the  American 
coast  for  slaves.  But  two  or  three  hundred  years 
ago  the  reigning  shogun  made  up  his  mind  that  slav- 
ing was  immoral.  So  he  pronounced  an  edict  by 
which  the  builders  of  junks  were  forbidden  to  fill  in 
their  stern  frame  with  the  usual  panels.  The  junks 
were  still  good  enough  for  coastwise  trade  at  home, 
but  if  they  dared  the  swell  of  the  outer  ocean  a  fol- 
lowing sea  would  poop  them  and  send  them  to  the 
bottom.  That  put  a  stop  to  the  slave  trade;  but  no 
king  can  prevent  storms,  and  law  or  no  law,  disabled 
juntcs  were  sometimes  swept  by  the  big  black  current 
and  the  westerly  gales  right  across  the  Pacific  Ocean. 


THE  SEA  HUNTERS  149 

The  law  made  only  one  diflFerence,  that  the  crippled 
junks  never  got  back  to  Japan ;  and  if  their  castaway 
seamen  reached  America  the  native  tribes  enslaved 
them.  I  find  that  during  the  first  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  the  average  was  one  junk  in  forty-two 
months  cast  away  on  the  coasts  of  America. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  another  eflfect  of  this  strange 
law  that  disabled  Japanese  shipping.  Northward 
o'  Tapan  are  the  Kuril  Islands  in  a  region  of  almost 
pe.  actual  fog,  bad  storms  and  bitter  cold,  ice  pack, 
strong  currents  and  tide  rips,  combed  by  the  fanged 
reefs,  with  plenty  of  earthquakes  and  eruptions  to 
allay  any  sense  of  monotony.  The  large  and  hairy 
natives  are  called  the  Ainu,  who  live  by  fishing,  and 
used  to  catch  sea  otter  and  fur  seal.  These  furs 
found  their  way  via  Japan  to  China,  where  sea-otter 
fur  was  part  of  the  costly  official  winter  dress  of  the 
Chinese  mandarins.  As  to  the  seal,  their  whiskers 
are  worth  two  shillings  a  set  for  cleaning  opium  pipes, 
and  one  part  of  the  carcass  sells  at  a  shilling  a  time 
for  medicine,  apart  from  the  worth  of  the  fur. 

Now  the  law  that  disabled  the  junks  made  it  im- 
possible for  Japan  to  do  much  trade  in  the  Kurils,  so 
that  the  Russians  actually  got  there  first  as  colonists. 

But  no  law  disabled  the  Americans,  and  when  the 
supply  of  sea  otter  failed  on  the  Califomian  coast  in 
1872  a  schooner  called  the  Cypnet  crossed  the  Pacific 
to  the  Kuril  Islands.  There  the  sea-otters  were  plen- 
tiful in  the  kelp  beds,  tame  as  cats  and  eager  to  in- 
spect the  hunters'  boats.  Their  skins  fetched  from 
eighty  to  ninety  dollars. 

When  news  came  to  Japan  of  this  new  way  of  get- 
ting rich,  a  young  Englishman,  Mr.  H.  J.  Snow, 


ISO 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


bought  a  schooner,  a  hog-backed  relic  called  the 
Swallow  in  which  he  set  out  for  the  hunting.  Three 
days  out,  a  gale  dismasted  her,  and  putting  in  for 
shelter  she  was  cast  away  in  the  Kuriles.  Mr. 
Snow's  second  venture  was  likewise  cast  away  on  a 
desert  isle,  where  the  crew  wintered.  "  My  vessels," 
he  says,  "were  appropriately  named.  The  Swallow 
swallowed  up  part  of  my  finances,  and  the  Snowdrop 
caused  me  to  drop  the  rest." 

During  the  winter  another  crew  of  white  men  were 
in  quarters  on  a  distant  headland  of  the  same  Island 
Yeturup,  and  were  cooking  their  Christmas  dinner 
when  they  met  with  an  accident.  A  dispute  had 
arisen  between  two  rival  cooks  as  to  how  to  fry  frit- 
ters, and  during  the  argument  a  pan  of  boiling  fat 
capsized  into  the  stove  and  caught  alight.  The  men 
escaped  through  the  flames  half  dressed,  their  clothes 
on  fire,  into  the  snow-dad  wilderness  and  a  shrewd 
wind.  Then  they  set  up  a  shelter  of  driftwood  with 
the  burning  ruin  in  front  to  keep  them  warm,  while 
they  gravely  debated  as  to  -vhether  they  ought  to 
cremate  the  cooks  upon  the  ashes  of  their  home  and 
of  their  Christmas  dinner. 

To  understand  the  adventures  of  the  sea  hunters 
we  must  follow  the  story  of  the  leased  islands. 
The  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  of  San  Francisco, 
leased  the  best  islands  for  seal  and  otter  fishing. 
From  the  United  States  the  company  leased  the 
Pribilof  Islands  in  Bering  Sea,  a  great  fur-seal  me- 
tropolis with  a  population  of  nearly  four  millwns. 
They  had  armed  native  gamekeepers  and  the  help  of 
an  American  gunboat.  From  Russia  the  company 
leased  Bering  and  Ccqjper  Islands  off  Kamchatka, 


THE  SEA  HUNTERS 


'SI 

^r  S^/''-^"'  °",  ^'"^!""*"  *'"'  •»»  »««««•  Rob- 
ber Island     There  also  they  had  native  gamekeep- 

gunboats.  The  company  had  likewise  tame  news- 
papers to  preach  about  the  wickedness  oTthe  !« 
hunters  anxl  call  them  bad  names.  As  a  rule  7he  se^ 
hunters  d.d  their  hunting  far  out  at  sea  whe«  it  was 
forS  '^'"i  ^'  "^^  *°"'  '"'^  landed^iTh 
Sal  thir-  V      If",'"!:  **"  *"*  ♦"«  ««  hunters 

Isli^Niirr,,"".^'   l!?"    ''"'   "'«'    °"    Bering 
island.    Night  fell  while  his  crew  were  busy  clul^ 

bmg  seals,  and  they  had  killed  about  six  hunted 

when  the  garrison  rushed  them.    Of  course  the  hit 

ers  made   haste   to   the   boaU.   but   Sn   S^^^ 

n..ssed  h>s  men  who  should  have  follow^  him   and 

as  hundreds  of  seals  were  taking  to  the  Sr  he 

S  tr  """i"^  r^'"«  '"^"^  «»-  shelterthind 
which  he  squatted  down,  waist-deep.  When  fte 
landscape  became  more  peaceful  he  seToff^Z  tl 
shore  of  boulders^ stumbling,  falling  and  molested! 
yappi^  foxes.    He  had  to  throw  rocks  to  keep  Aem 

MU  W  \'  ^""""^  **"  «°'"«  "^  "»<»  he  took  t^t^ 
hills  but  sea  boots  reaching  to  the  hips  are  not  comfy 
for  long  walks,  and  when  he  pulled  them  off  he  found 
how  surprisingly  sharp  are  the  stones  in  an  Arrtic 
undra.  He  pulled  them  on  again,  and  after  a  ^ 
tune  came  abreast  of  his  schooner,  where  he  found  onf 
of  the  seamen.  They  hailed  and  a  boat  took  thel  " 
bc«rd  where  the  shipkeeper  was  fouS  to  be  d^nT 
and  the  Japanese  bos'n  much  in  need  of  a  thrasW  J; 


iSa 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Captain  Snow  supplied  what  was  needed  to  the 
bos'n  and  had  a  big  su()per,  but  could  not  sail  as  the 
second  mate  was  still  missing.  He  turned  in  for  a 
night's  rest. 

Next  morning  bright  and  early  came  a  company's 
steamer  with  a  Russian  officer  and  two  soldiers  who 
searched  the  schooner.  There  was  not  a  trace  of  evi- 
dence on  board,  but  on  general  principles  the  vessel 
was  seized  and  condemned,  all  her  people  suffering 
some  months  of  imprisonment  at  Vladivostok. 

In  1888,  somewhat' prejudiced  against  the  virtuous 
company,  Captain  Snow  came  with  the  famous 
schooner  Nemo,  back  to  the  scene  of  h's  misadventure. 
One  morning  with  three  boats  he  went  prospecting  for 
otter  close  along  shore,  shot  four,  and  his  hunters 
one,  then  gave  the  signal  of  return  to  the  schooner. 
At  that  moment  two  shots  rang  out  from  behind  the 
boulders  ashore,  and  a  third,  which  peeled  some  skin 
from  his  hand,  followed  by  a  fusillade  like  a  hail 
storm.  Of  the  Japanese  seamen  in  Snow's  boat  the 
boat  steerer  was  shot  through  the  backbone.  A  sec- 
ond man  was  hit  first  in  one  leg,  then  in  the  other, 
but  went  on  pulling.  The  stroke  oar,  shot  in  the  calf, 
fell  and  lay,  seemingly  dead,  but  really  cautious. 
Then  the  other  two  men  bent  down  and  Snow  was 
shot  in  the  kg. 

So  rapid  was  the  firing  that  the  guns  ashore  must 
have  heated  partly  melting  the  leaden  bullets,  for  on 
board  the  boat  there  was  a  distinct  perfume  of  molten 
lead.  Three  of  the  bullets  which  struck  the  captain 
seem  to  have  been  deflected  by  his  woolen  jersey, 
and  one  which  got  through  happened  to  strike  a  fold. 
It  had  been  noted  in  the  Franco-Prussian  War  that 


THE  SEA  HUNTERS  153 

woolen    underdothc,    will    sometimes    turn    leaden 
bullets. 

"  I  remember,"  says  Captain  Snow,  "  weighing  the 
chances  ...  of  swimming  beside  the  boat,  but  decided 
that  we  should  be  just  as  liable  to  be  drowned  as 
shot,  as  no  one  could  stand  the  cold  water  for  long. 
For  the  greater  part  of  the  time  I  was  vigorously  ply^ 
ing  my  paddle  ...  and  only  presenting  the  edge  of 
my  body,  the  left  side,  to  the  enemy.  This  is  how  it 
was  that  the  bullets  which  struck  me  all  entered  my 
clothing  on  the  left  side.  I  expected  every  moment 
to  be  shot  through  the  body,  and  I  could  not  help 
wondering  how  it  would  feel.'' 

With  three  dying  men,  and  three  wounded,  he  got 
the  sinking  boat  under  sail  and  brought  her  alongside 
the  schooner. 

Of  course  it  was  very  good  of  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company  to  preserve  the  wild  game  of  the 
islands,  but  even  gamekeepers  may  show  excess  of 
2eal  when  it  comes  to  wholesale  mur  ler.  To  all  of 
us  who  were  in  that  trade  it  is  a  matter  of  keen  regret 
that  the  officers  ashore  took  such  good  cover.  Their 
guards,  and  the  Cossacks,  were  kindly  souls  enough, 
ready  and  willing  — in  the  absence  of  the  officers  — 
to  sell  skins  to  the  raiders  or  even,  after  some  refresh- 
ments, to  helj-  in  clubbing  a  few  hundred  seals.  It 
was  rather  awkward,  though,  for  one  of  .he  schooners 
at  Cape  Patience  when  in  the  midst  of  these  festivi- 
ties a  gunboat  came  round  the  comer. 

Tiie  American  and  the  Japanese  schooners  weie  not 
always  quite  good  friends,  and  there  is  a  queer  story 
of  a  triangular  duel  between  ihree  vessels,  fought  in 
a  fog.    Mr.  Kipling  had  the  Rhyme  of  the  Three 


154 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Stdtrs,  he  told  me,  from  Captain  Lake  in  Yoko- 
hama. I  had  it  from  the  mate  of  one  of  the  three 
ichoonert,  Tki  SttUa,  She  changed  her  name  to 
Ad*l*,  and  the  mate  became  master,  a  little,  round, 
fox-faced  Norseman,  Hans  Hansen,  of  Christiania. 
In  1884  the  Add*  was  captured  by  an  American  gun- 
boat and  taken  to  San  Francisco.  Hansen  said  that 
he  and  his  men  were  marched  through  the  streets 
shackled,  and  great  was  the  howl  about  pirates,  but 
when  the  case  came  up  for  trial  the  court  had  no 
jurisdiction,  and  the  'ship  was  released.  From  that 
event  dates  the  name  "  Yokohama  Pirates,"  and  Han- 
sen's nickname  as  the  Flying  Dutchman.  Because  at 
the  time  of  capture  he  had  for  once  been  a  perfectly 
innocent  deep  sea  sealer,  he  swore  everlasting  war 
against  the  United  State;,  transferred  his  ship  to  the 
port  of  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  and  would  hoist 
by  turns  the  British,  Japanese,  German,  Norwegian 
or  even  American  flag,  as  suited  his  convenience. 

Once  when  T  asked  him  why  not  the  Black 
Flag,  he  grinned,  remarking  that  them  old-fashioned 
pirates  had  no  business  sense.  Year  after  year 
he  raided  the  forbidden  islands  to  subvert  the  garri- 
sons, rob  warehouses,  or  plunder  the  rookeries,  while 
gunboats  of  four  nations  failed  to  effect  his 
capture.  In  port  he  was  a  pattern  of  innocent  virtue, 
at  sea  his  superb  seamanship  made  him  as  hard 
to  catch  as  a  ghost,  and  his  adventures  beat  the 
Arabian  Nights.  I  was  with  him  as  an  ordinary 
seaman  in  the  voyage  of  1889,  a  winter  raid  upon 
the  Pribibf  Islands.  At  the  first  attempt  we  clawed 
off  >  lee  shore  in  a  hurricane,  the  second  resulted  in  a 
mutiny,  and  the  third  landing  was  not  very  success- 


THE  SEA  HUNTERS 


155 


ful,  because  the  boats  were  swamped,  and  the  garri- 
son a  little  too  prevalent  ashore.  On  the  voyage  of 
1890  the  Adelt  took  four  hundred  skins,  but  in  1891 
was  cast  away  on  the  North  Island  of  the  Queen 
parlotte  group,  without  any  loss  of  life.  The  Fly- 
ing Dutchman  took  to  mining  on  the  outer  coast  of 
Vancouver,  where  he  rescued  a  shipwrecked  crew,  but 
afterward  perished  in  the  attempt  to  save  a  drowning 
Indian. 

Quite  apart  from  the  so-called  Yokohama  pirates, 
a  large  fleet  of  law-abiding  Canadian  schooners 
hunted  the  fur  seal  at  sea,  r  natter  which  led  to  some 
slight  unpleasantness  betw  ..  the  American  and  the 
British  governments.  There  was  hunting  also 
in  the  seas  about  Cape  Horn;  but  the  Yoko- 
hama schooners  have  left  behind  them  i  y  far  the 
finest  memories.  Captain  Snow  says  th?'  -rom  first 
to  last  some  fifty  white  men's  schooners  sailed  out  of 
Yokohama.  Of  five  there  is  no  record,  two  took  to 
sealing  when  the  sea  otter  no  longer  paid,  and  four 
were  sold  out  of  the  business.  The  Russians  sank 
one,  captured  and  lost  two,  captured  and  condemned 
three,  all  six  being  a  dead  loss  to  their  owners.  For 
the  rest,  twenty-two  were  cast  away,  and  twelve 
foundered  with  all  hands  at  sea,  so  that  the  total  loss 
was  forty  ships  out  of  fifty.  For  daring  seamanship 
and  gallant  adventure  sea  hunting  made  a  school  of 
manhood  hard  to  match  in  this  tame  modem  world, 
and  war  is  a  very  tame  aflfair  to  those  who  shared  the 
fun. 


XXII 

A.  D.  1879 

THE  BUSHRANGERS 

IT  is  a  merit  to  love  dumb  animals,  but  to  steal  them 
is  an  excess  of  virtue  that  is  sure  to  cause 
trouble  with  the  police.  All  Australians  have  a  pas- 
sion for  horses,  but  thirty  years  ago,  the  Australian 
bushmen  developed  such  a  mania  for  horse-stealing, 
that  the  mounted  police  were  fairly  run  off  their  legs. 
The  feeling  between  bushmen  and  police  became  so 
exceedingly  bitter  that  in  1878  a  constable,  attempting 
to  make  arrests,  was  beset  and  wounded.  The  fight 
took  place  in  the  house  of  a  Mrs.  Kelly,  who  got 
penal  servitude,  whereas  her  sons,  Ned  and  Dan,  who 
did  the  actual  shooting,  escaped  to  the  hills.  A  hun- 
dred pounds  were  offered  for  their  arrest. 

Both  of  Mrs.  Kelly's  sons  were  tainted,  bom  and 
raised  thieves.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  Ned  had  served 
an  apprenticeship  in  robbery  under  arms  with  Power 
the  bushranger,  who  described  him  as  a  cowardly 
young  brute.  Now,  in  his  twenty-fifth  year  he  was  far 
from  brave.  Dan,  aged  seventeen,  was  a  ferocious 
young  wolf,  but  manly.  As  the  brothers  lurked  in 
hiding  they  were  joined  by  Joe  Byrne,  aged  twenty- 
one,  a  gallant  and  sweet-tempered  lad  gone  wrong, 
and  by  Steve  Hart,  a  despicable  little  cur.  All  four 
.56 


THE  BUSHRANGERS 


IS? 


were  superb  as  riders,  scouts  and  bushmen,  fairly 
good  shots,  intimate  with  every  inch  of  the  country, 
supported  by  hundreds  of  kinsmen  and  the  sympathy 
of  the  people  generally  in  the  war  they  had  declared 
against  the  police. 

In  October,  Sergeant  Kennedy  and  three  constables 
patroling  in  search  of  the  gang,  were  surprised  by 
the  outlaws  in  camp,  and,  as  they  showed  fight,  Ned 
and  Dan  Kelly  attacked  them.  Only  one  trooper 
escaped.  At  this  outrage,  Byrne  was  horrified,  Hart 
scared,  but  the  Kellys  forced  them  to  fire  into 
Sergeant  Kennedy's  corpse  that  they  might  share  the 
guilt.  Then  Ned  Kelly,  touched  by  the  gallantry  with 
which  the  sergeant  had  fought,  brought  a  cloak  and 
reverently  covered  his  body. 

In  December,  the  outlaws  stuck  up  a  sheep  station, 
and  robbed  the  bank  at  Euroa. 

In  February,  1879,  they  surprised  the  police  station 
at  Jerilderie,  locked  two  policemen  in  the  cells,  dis- 
guised themselves  as  constables,  captured  the  town, 
imprisoning  a  crowd  of  people  in  the  hotel,  then 
sacked  the  bank,  and  rode  away  shouting  and  singing 
with  their  plunder. 

By  this  time  the  rewards  offered  for  their  capture 
amounted  to  eight  thousand  pounds,  and  the  whole 
strength  of  the  Victoria  police  was  engaged,  with 
native  trackers,  in  hunting  them.  Had  these  wicked 
robbers  ever  showed  rudeness  to  a  woman,  or  plun- 
dered a  poor  man,  or  behaved  meanly  with  their 
stolen  wealth,  they  would  have  been  betrayed  at  once 
to  the  police,  but  the  Australians  are  sportsmen,  and 
there  is  a  gallantry  in  robbery  under  arms  that  appeals 
to  misguided  hearts. 


I 


»S8 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


The  four  bad  men  were  so  polite  to  all  women,  so 
kindly  to  unarmed  citizens,  so  humorous  in  their 
methods,  so  generous  with  their  gold,  so  daring  in 
making  war  against  a  powerful  British  state,  that 
they  were  esteemed  as  heroes.  Even  bad  heroes 
are  better  than  none  at  all,  and  they  were  not  be- 
trayed even  by  poor  folk  to  whom  the  rewards  would 
have  been  a  fortune.  For  two  years  they  outwitted 
the  whole  force  of  police,  scouts  and  trackers  at  a 
cost  to  the  state  of  one  hundred  fifteen  thousand 
pounds.  , 

But  with  all  this  the  best  of  Australian  manhood 
was  engaged  in  the  hunt,  and  the  real  heroes  of  this 
adventure  were  the  police,  who  made  no  moan 
through  months  of  outrageous  labor  and  suffering  in 
the  mountains. 

Superintendent  Hare,  in  charge  of  the  hunt,  made 
friends  with  a  kinsman  of  the  outlaws,  a  young  horse- 
thief,  named  Aaron  Sherritt.  This  lad  knew  all  the 
secrets  of  the  outlaws,  was  like  a  brother  to  them, 
and  yet,  so  worshiped  Mr.  Hare  that  he  served  with 
the  police  as  a  spy.  In  treachery  to  his  kinsmen,  he 
was  at  least  faithful  to  his  master,  knowing  that  he 
went  to  his  own  death. 

He  expected  the  outlaws  to  come  by  night  to  the 
house  of  Joe  Byrne's  mother,  and  led  Mr.  Hare's 
patrol,  which  lay  for  the  next  month  in  hiding  upon 
a  hill  overlooking  the  homestead.  Aaron  was  en- 
gaged to  Byrne's  sister,  was  daily  at  the  house  and 
slowly  a  dim  suspicion  dawned  on  the  outlaw's 
mother.  Then  the  old  woman,  uneasily  searching  the 
hills,  stumbled  into  the  police  bivouac,  and  saw  Aaron 
Sherritt,  the  spy,  asleep  in  that  company.    His  dress 


THE  BUSHRANGERS 


159 


betrayed  him  to  her,  a  white  shirt,  breeches  and  long 
boots,  impossible  to  mistake.  And  when  he  knew 
what  had  happened,  the  lad  turned  white.  "  Now," 
he  muttered,  "I  am  a  dead  man." 

Mrs.  Byrne  sent  the  news  of  Aaron's  treachery  to 
her  outlawed  son  in  the  hills.  On  June  twenty-sixth, 
the  spy  was  called  out  of  his  mother's  cabin  by  some 
one  who  cried  that  he  had  lost  his  way.  Aaron 
opened  the  door,  and  Joe  Byrne  shot  him  through 
the  heart. 

So  the  outlaws  had  broken  cover  after  months  of 
hiding,  and  at  once  Superintendent  Hare  brought 
police  and  trackers  by  a  special  train  that  they  might 
take  up  the  trail  of  their  retreat  back  to  the  moun- 
tains. The  outlaws,  foreseeing  this  movement,  tore 
up  the  railway  track,  so  that  the  train,  with  its  load 
of  police,  might  be  thrown  into  a  gully,  and  all  who 
survived  the  wreck  were  to  be  shot  down  without 
mercy. 

This  snare  which  they  set  for  their  enemies  was 
badly  planned.  Instead  of  tearing  up  the  tracks 
themselves,  they  brought  men  for  the  job  from  Glen- 
rowan  station  close  by;  and  then,  to  prevent  their 
presence  from  being  reported,  they  had  to  hold  the 
village  instead  of  mounting  guard  upon  the  trap. 
Thqr  cut  the  wires,  secured  the  station  and  herded 
all  the  villagers  into  the  Glenrowan  hotel  some  two 
hundred  yards  from  the  railway.  Then  they  had  to 
wait  for  the  train  from  three  o'clock  on  Monday 
morning  all  through  the  long  day,  and  the  dreary 
night,  guarding  sixty  prisoners  and  watching  for  the 
police.  They  amused  the  prisoners,  men,  women  and 
children  with  an  impron^u  dance  in  which  they 


i6o 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


shared  by  turns,  then  with  raids  upon  outlying  houses, 
and  with  athletic  feats,  but  always  on  the  alert  lest 
any  man  escape  to  give  the  alarm,  or  the  police  arrive 
unobserved.  The  strain  was  beyond  human  en- 
durance. So  Byrne,  fresh  from  the  murder  of  his 
chum  Aaron  Sherritt,  relieved  his  mind  by  getting 
drunk,  Ned  Kelly  kept  up  his  courage  by  bragging  of 
the  death  prepared  for  his  enemies,  and,  worst  of  all, 
the  local  schoolmaster,  was  allowed  to  take  his  sick 
wife  home. 

The  schoolmaster  had  been  most  sympathetic  all 
day  long,  helping  the  outlaws  until  he  won  their  con- 
fidence; but  now,  escaped  to  his  house,  he  made  haste 
to  prepare  a  lantern  covered  with  a  red  shawl  with 
which  to  signal  the  train.  He  stood  upon  the  track 
waving  the  red  light,  when  in  the  pitchy  darkness  be- 
fore dawn,  the  train-load  of  police  came  blindly 
straight  for  the  death-trap.  The  train  slowed,  stopped 
and  was  saved. 

Out  of  plowshares  and  scrap  iron,  a  blacksmith 
had  forged  for  each  of  the  outlaws  a  cuirass  and 
helmet  of  plate  armor,  and  now  at  the  sound  of  the 
approaching  train  they  dressed  in  this  bullet-proof 
harness.  Ned  Kelly's  suit  weighed  ninety-seven 
pounds,  and  the  others  were  simik  ,  so  clumsy  that 
the  wearer  could  neither  run  to  attack  nor  mount  a 
horse  to  escape.  Moreover,  with  a  rifle  at  the 
shoulder,  it  was  impossible  to  see  for  taking  aim.  So 
armed,  the  robbers  had  got  no  farther  than  the  hotel 
veranda  when  the  police  charged,  and  a  fierce  engage- 
ment began.  The  prisoners  huddled  within  the  house 
had  no  shelter  from  its  frail  board  walls,  and  two  of 
the  children  w.ere  wounded..    . 


THE  BUSHRANGERS 


i6i 


Byrne  was  drinking  at  the  bar  when  a  bullet  struck 
him  dead.  Ned  Kelly,  attempting  to  desert  his  com- 
rades, made  for  the  yard,  but  finding  that  all  the 
horses  had  been  shot,  strolled  back  laughing  amid  a 
storm  of  lead.  Every  bullet  striking  his  armor  made 
him  reel,  and  he  had  been  five  times  wounded,  but 
now  he  began  to  walk  about  the  yard  emptying  his 
revolvers  into  the  police.  Then  a  sergeant  fired  at 
his  legs  and  the  outlaw  dropped,  appealing  abjectly 
for  his  life. 

The  escape  of  the  panic-stricken  prisoners  had 
been  arrange*^,  but  for  hours  the  fight  went  on  until 
toward  noon  the  house  stood  a  riddled  and  ghastly 
shell,  with  no  sign  of  life.  A  bundle  of  straw  was 
lighted  against  the  gable  end,  and  the  building  was 
soon  ablaze.  Rumors  now  spread  that  an  old  man 
lay  wounded  in  the  house,  and  a  priest  gallantly  led 
in  a  rush  of  police  to  the  rescue.  The  old  man  was 
saved,  and  under  the  thick  smoke,  Dan  Kelly  and  Hart 
were  seen  lying  dead  upon  the  floor  in  their  armor. 
Ned  Kelly  died  as  he  had  lived,  a  coward,  being 
almost  carried  to  the  gallows,  and  that  evening  his 
sister  Kate  exhibited  herself  as  a  show  in  a  music- 
hall  at  Melbourne.  So  ended  this  bloody  tragedy  in 
hideous  farce,  and  with  the  destruction  of  the  outlaws 
closed  a  long  period  of  disorder.  Except  in  remote 
regions  of  the  frontier,  robbery  under  arms  has  ceased 
forever  in  the  Australasian  states. 


XXIII 

A.D.  i883 
i 
THE  PASSING  OF  THE  BISON 

MAY  I  recommend  a  better  book  than  this?  If 
anybody  wants  to  feel  the  veritable  spirit  of 
adventure,  let  him  read  My  Life  as  an  Indian,  by 
F.  W.  Schultz.  His  life  is  an  example  in  manliness, 
his  record  the  best  we  have  of  a  red  Indian  tribe, 
his  book  the  most  spacious  and  lovely  in  frontier 
literature. 

The  Blackfeet  got  their  name  from  the  oil-dressed, 
arrow-proof  'eather  of  their  moccasins  (skin  shoes) 
which  were  dark  in  color.  They  were  profoundly 
religious,  scrupulously  clean  —  bathing  daily,  even 
through  thick  ice,  fastidiously  moral,  a  gay  light- 
hearted  people  of  a  temper  like  the  French,  and  even 
among  Indians,  the  most  generous  race  in  the  world, 
they  were  famed  for  their  hospitality.  The  savage  is 
to  the  white  man,  what  the  child  is  to  the  grown-up, 
of  lesser  intellect,  but  much  nearer  to  God. 

When  the  white  men  reached  the  plains,  the  Black- 
feet  mustered  about  forty  thousand  mounted  men, 
hunters.  The  national  sport  was  stealing  horses  and 
scalps,  but  there  was  lo  organized  war  until  the 
pressure  of  the  whites,  drove  the  tribes  westward, 
163 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  BISON         163 

crowding  them  together,  so  that  they  had  to  fight  for 
the  good  hunting  grounds.  Then  there  were  wars  in 
which  the  Blackfeet  more  than  held  their  own.  Next 
came  the  smallpox,  and  afterward  the  West  was  not 
so  crowded.  Whole  nations  were  swept  away,  and 
those  that  lived  were  sorely  reduced  in  numbers. 
After  that  came  white  frontiersmen  to  trade,  to  hunt, 
or  as  missionaries.  The  Indians  called  them  Hat- 
wearers,  but  the  Blackfeet  had  another  name  — the 
Stone-hearts.  The  whites  were  nearly  always  wel- 
comed, but  presently  they  came  in  larger  numbers, 
claiming  the  land  for  mining  camps  and  ranching, 
which  drove  away  the  game.  The  Indians  fought  the 
whites,  fought  for  their  land  and  their  food,  their 
liberty;  but  a  savage  with  bow  and  arrows  has  no 
chance  against  a  soldier  with  a  rifle.  For  every  white 
man  killed  a  hundred  would  come  to  the  funeral,  so 
the  Blackfeet  saw  that  it  was  no  use  fighting. 

In  1853  they  made  a  treaty  that  secured  them 
their  hunting  ground,  forever  free.  The  Great 
Father  at  Washington  pledged  his  honor,  and  they 
were  quite  content  It  was  the  same  with  every 
western  tribe  that  the  United  States  was  pledged  by 
solemn  treaty  which  the  Indians  kept,  and  the  white 
men  always  broke.  Troops  drove  the  settlers  off,  but 
went  away  and  the  settlers  came  back.  So  young 
warriors  broke  loose  from  the  chiefs  to  scalp  those 
settlers  and  bum  their  homes;  and  the  army  would 
break  vengeance.  Such  were  the  conditions  when 
Schultz,  a  green  New  England  boy  of  nineteen,  came 
by  steamer  up  the  Missouri  to  Fort  Benton. 

The  truly  respectable  reader  will  be  shocked  to  learn 
that  this  misguided  youth  went  into  partnership  with 


i64 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


a  half-breed  trader,  selling  water  with  a  flavoring  of 
whisky  at  very  high  prices  to  the  Indians.  In  other 
words,  he  earned  his  living  at  a  very  risky  trade.  He 
married  a  Blackfoot  girl,  becoming  a  squaw-man, 
which,  as  everybody  knows,  is  beneath  contempt.  In 
other  words,  he  was  honest  enough  to  marry  a  most 
charming  woman  instead  of  betraying  her  to  ruin. 
He  went  on  guilty  expeditions  to  snatch  scalps  and 
steal  horses.  He  shared  the  national  sports  and  so 
learned  the  inmost  heart  of  a  brave  people. 

When  our  own  countrymen  get  too  self-righteous, 
bigoted,  priggish,  smug  and  generally  beyond  beai^ 
ing,  what  a  blessing  it  would  be  if  we  had  a  few  wild 
Indians  to  col';ct  their  scalps  I 

Schultz  had  a  chum,  a  Blackfoot  warrior  called 
Wolverine,  who  taught  him  the  sign  language  and  a 
deal  of  bush  craft.  At  times  this  Wolverine  was  un- 
happy, and  once  the  white  man  asked  him  what  was 
wrong.  "  There  is  nothing  troubling  me,"  answered 
the  Indian,  then  after  a  long  pause :  "  I  lied.  I  am  in 
great  trouble.  I  love  Piks-ah'-ki,  and  she  loves  me, 
but  I  can  not  have  her ;  her  father  will  not  give  her  to 
me. 

The  father.  Bull's  Head,  was  a  Gros  Ventre,  and 
hated  Wolverine  for  being  a  Blackfoot. 

"  I  am  going,"  said  Wolverine,  "  to  steal  the  girl. 
Will  you  go  with  me?" 

So  one  evening  the  pair  stole  away  from  the  Black- 
foot camp,  rode  eastward  across  the  plains,  marching 
by  night,  hiding  by  day.  Once,  at  a  river  crossing 
they  discovered  the  trails  of  a  large  war  party  of 
Crees  on  the  way  to  the  Gros  Ventre  camp.  "  I 
knew,"  said  Wolverine,  laughing  happily,  "that  my 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  BISON         165 

medicint  would  not  desert  me.  and  see,  the  way  is 
d«,r  before  us.    We  will  ride  boldly  into  camp.  ,0 
the  lodge  of  the  great  chief.  Three  Bears.    I  will  say 
that  our  chief  sent  me  to  warn  him  of  a  war  party 
workmg  this  way.    I  will  say  that  we  ourselves  have 
seen  their  tracks  along  the  bars  of  the  river.    Then 
the  Gros  V.ntres  wUl  guard  their  horses;  they  will 
ambush  the  enemy;  there  will  be  a  big  fight,  bie  ex- 
citement.   All  the  men  will  rush  to  the  fight,  and  that 
will  be  my  time.    I   will  call  Piks-ah'-ki.  we  will 
mount  our  horses  and  fly."    So  riding  hard,   they 
came  m  sight  of  the  Gros  Ventre  camp.    "  Ah  I  "  said 
Wolverine,  "there  is  the  camp.    Now   for  the  big 
he^    Then   more   seriously,  " Pity   mt.  great   Sun! 
i;ity  me,  you  under  water  creatures  of  my  dream! 
Help  me  to  obtain  that  which  I  seek  here  " 

So  they  came  to  the  lodge  of  Three  Bears,  presented 
tobacco  as  a  present  from  the  chief  Big  Lake  and 

wWhTrr^  ""'*  *  'P'^"*'  ^^''  °f  boiled  dog. 
which  had  to  be  eaten,  no  matter  how  sick  they  felt 

Gros  Ventres  believed  the  enemy  were  coming  and 

kept  dose  watch  on  their  herd,  but  Bull's  Head  sat 

n>ght.    he  said.  "I  shall  sit  in  my  lodge  and  watch 
for  women  stealers,  and  my  gun  will  be  loaded." 
So  he  got  up,  and  flounced  out  of  the  lodge 
Ihat  night  all  happened  as  Wolverine  had  said,  for 

i^d  arthrr  ""Tr  "''"^^''^  *°  "^^P'-^'  *e  herd, 
and  all  the  Gros  Ventres,  induding  Bull's  Head  ran 
out  of  camp  for  the  battle.  Wolverine  Ld  iLu^ 
found  BuU's  Head's  daughter  readyTt  c^/^J^ 

the^r  thought  they  were  dear  of  the  battle-fieldf  when 


166 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTXJRE 


suddenly  a  gun  exploded  in  front  of  Wolverine,  and 
down  he  went  with  his  horse.  Then  the  girl 
screamed,  "  They  have  killed  him  I  Help,  white  man, 
they  have  killed  him  I " 

But  Wolverine  fired  his  gun  at  something  that 
moved  in  the  sage  brush,  and  a  deep  groan  followed. 
Wolverine  clubbed  something  three  of  four  times  with 
his  rifle.  Then  stooping,  he  picked  up  the  gun  which 
had  been  fired  at  him.  "  I  count  a  coup,"  he  laughed, 
and  handed  the  enemy's  weapon  to  Schultz. 

At  that  moment  Bull's  Heai  appeared,  and  in  a 
frightful  passion  seized  his  daughter's  horse  by  the 
head  attempting  to  drag  her  from  the  saddle.  She 
shrieked,  while  Wolverine  sprang  at  her  father,  threw 
him,  disarmed  him  and  flung  away  his  gun.  Then 
the  young  lover  leaped  lightly  behind  the  girl  upon 
her  pony,  and  the  father  raged  astern  while  they  fled. 

Four  days'  ride  brought  them  home  to  the  Black- 
foot  camp,  but  Bull's  Head  got  there  first,  and 
whined  about  his  poverty  until  Wolverine  gave  him 
ten  ponies,  also  the  captured  gun.  It  was  not  much 
to  pay  for  a  beautiful  woman  who  became  a  faithful 
and  loving  wife. 

One  day  news  reached  the  three  main  camps  of  the 
Blackfoot  nation  that  a  white  buffalo  had  been  sighted 
in  the  herds.  Midwinter  as  it  was,  the  hunters 
turned  out,  for  the  man  who  killed  a  white  buffalo 
was  held  to  have  the  especial  favor  of  the  Sun,  and 
not  only  he,  but  his  tribe.  The  head  chief  of  a  na- 
tion has  been  known  to  use  the  robe  for  a  seat,  but 
it  could  never  be  sold,  and  at  the  next  building  of  a 
temple  to  the  Sun  it  was  offered  up  as  a  national 
sacrifice. 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  BISON         16;; 

Great  was  the  nunting  tbrr  gh  many  days  of  bitter 
cold,  until  at  last  the  white  juSalo  was  fotmd  by  a 
lone  horseman  who  brought  it  down  with  his  arrows 
"When  we  rode  up,"  says  Schulti,  "the  hunter  was 
sUnding  over  it,  hands  raised,  fervently  praying, 
promising  the  Sun  the  robe  and  tongue  of  the  animal. 
.  .  .  Medicine  Weasel  was  so  excited,  he  trembled 
80  that  he  could  not  use  his  knife  ...  and  some  of 
our  party  to<*  off  the  hide  for  him,  and  cut  out  the 
tongue,  he  standing  over  them  all  the  time  and  beg- 
ging  them  to  be  careful,  to  make  no  gashes,  for  they 
were  doing  the  work  for  the  Sun.  None  of  the  meat 
was  taken.  It  was  considered  a  sacrilege  to  eat  it; 
the  tongue  was  to  be  dried  and  given  to  the  Sun  with 
the  robe." 

Only  one  more  white  buffato  was  ever  taken,  in 
1881,  two  years  before  the  last  herds  were  destroyed. 
Heavy  Breast  and  Schultz  were  once  out  hunting, 
and  the  chief's  saddle  was  newly  loaded  with  moun- 
tain sheep  meat,  when  the  hunfers  met  a  first-class 
grizzly  bear.  He  sat  up,  fifty  yards  distant  and 
wriggled  his  nose  as  he  sniffed  the  air.  Both  men 
fired  and  with  a  hair-lifting  roar  old  sticky  mouth 
rolled  over,  biting  and  clawing  his  wound,  then  sprang 
up  and  charged,  open  mouthed.  The  hunters  rode 
hard,  Schultz  firing  backward  a  couple  of  shots  while 
the  bear  with  long  bounds,  closed  upon  the  Indian. 
I  fired  again,  and  made  another  miss  and  just  then 
Heavy  Breast,  his  saddle  and  his  sheep  meat  parted 
company  with  the  fleeing  pony.  The  dnch,  an  old 
worn  rawhide  band,  had  broken. 

"'Hai  Ya,  my  friend.'  he  cried  pleadingly,  as  he 
soared  up  in  the  air,  still  astride  the  saddle.    Down 


i68 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


they  came  with  a  loud  thud  not  two  itride*  ir.  front  of 
the  onrushing  bear.  And  that  animal,  with  a  dis- 
mayed and  frightened  'woof,'  turned  sharply  about 
and  fled  back  toward  the  timber,  I  after  him.  I  kept 
firing  and  firing,  and  finally  a  lucky  shot  broke  hii 
backbone. 

"'Do  not  laugh,  my  friend,'  said  Heavy  Breast; 
'surely  the  Sun  listened  to  my  prayer.  I  promised 
to  sacrifice  to  him,  intending  to  hang  up  that  fine 
white  blanket  I  have  just  bought.  I  will  hang  up  the 
blanket  and  my  otter-skin  cap.' " 

There  was  no  end  of  trouble  about  that  bear,  for 
Mrs.  Schultz  dared  not  skin  a  sacred  animal  until  she 
had  sacrificed  her  best  blue  frock,  also  one  of  her 
husband's  revolvers  —  the  same  being  out  of  order. 
And  wKen  the  skin  was  dressed,  nobody  dared  to 
visit  the  lodge  until  it  had  been  hidden. 

I  want  to  copy  out  the  whole  book,  for  every  para- 
graph contains  some  fresh  delight,  but  these  two  or 
three  stories  must  have  shown  something  at  least  of 
Blackfoot  character.    I  knew,  and  loved  these  people. 

It  was  in  January,  1870,  that  Colone'.  Baker  was 
sent  with  a  force  of  United  States  regular  troops 
to  chasten  a  band  of  Blackfeet  who  had  killed  a 
trader.  The  band  accused  of  the  crime,  belonged  to 
the  Northern  Blackfeet  of  Canada,  who- :;  camp  at  the 
time  was  on  Belly  River,  two  hundred  .niles  north  of 
the  boundary.  The  band  found  by  Baker  belonged  to 
the  Piegans,  a  southern  tribe  camped  on  their  own 
lands  in  Montana.  There  were  eighty  families  in  camp, 
but  th?  men  were  nearly  all  away  hunting  buffalo 
when  Baker's  force  attacked  at  the  break  of  dawn. 
The  chief,  Bear's  Head,  ran  toward  the  white  men, 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  BISON         169 

waving  a  paper,  a  certificate  of  good  character.  He 
fell.  Then  the  slaughter  began  in  cold  blood:  Fif- 
teen lighting  men,  eighteen  elder  men,  ninety  women, 
fifty-five  little  children,  and  when  the  last  wotmded 
mothers  and  their  babies  had  been  put  out  of  their 
misery,  the  soldiers  piled  the  corpses  upon  the  wreck- 
age before  they  burned  the  camp. 

The  whisky  traders,  tike  Schultz,  have  been  blamed 
for  the  ruin  of  the  Blackfeet ;  but  since  they  had  to 
die,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  liquor  gave  them  a  certain 
amount  of  fun  and  excitement  not  so  bad  for  them 
as  Baker,  or  smallpox,  or  their  Indian  agent,  or  the 
white  robbers  who  slaughtered  their  herds  of  buflEalo, 
and  stole  their  treaty  lands.  In  1874,  Schultz  was  one 
of  fifty-seven  white  men  hunting  or  trading  with  the 
Canadian  or  Northe.-n  Blackfeet  They  h.r'  trading 
forts  at  Whoop-up,  Standoff,  Sl'Heout,  tl.e  Leavings, 
all  in  Canada.  But  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
the  Canadian  wolfers  made  complaint  against  these 
American  rivals;  and  so  the  Canadian  government 
raised  the  Northwest  Mounted  Police.  Three  hun- 
dred mm  were  sent  across  the  plains  to  take  possession 
and  run  the  American  traders  out  of  the  country. 
But  the  police  were  only  tenderfeet  in  those  days, 
eastern  Canadians  unused  to  the  western  ways,  who 
came  hungry  through  the  countless  herds  of  the  bison. 
A  band  of  hunters  brought  news  to  the  Blackfeet. 
"  Some  men  are  coming,"  they  said,  "  who  wear  red 
coats,  and  they  are  drawing  a  cannon." 

"  Oh,"  said  the  Blackfeet,  "  these  must  be  Hudson's 
Bay."  For  in  old  times  the  company's  officers  are 
said  to  have  worn  »ed  coats  when  they  administered 
justice,  so  that  the  color  was  a  sign  of  honest  dealing. 


170 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


So  the  police  were  not  attacked  by  the  Bbckfeet,  and 
they  were  welcomed  by  the  American  traders,  who 
sold  them  food  in  abundance. 

The  liquor  trade  ceased  altogether  but  the  police 
and  the  traders  became  fast  friends,  while  the  police 
and  the  Northern  Blackfeet  have  been  loyal  allies  ever 
since.  After  the  buffalo  vanished,  the  tribes  were  fed 
by  the  Canadian  government  and  not  lavishly,  perhaps 
rather  stingily,  helped  to  learn  the  important  arts  of 
ranching.  , 

Meanwhile  far  away  to  the  southward,  the  white 
men  were  slaughtering  buffalo  for  their  hides,  and  in 
Kansas  alone  during  ten  years,  thirty-five  million  car- 
casses were  left  to  rot  on  the  plains.  The  bison  herds 
still  seemed  as  large  as  ever,  the  country  black  with 
them  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  But  men  like 
Schultz  who  had  brains,  had  news  that  away  from 
these  last  migrating  herds,  the  plains  were  empty  for 
thousands  of  miles.  I  remember  the  northern  plains 
like  a  vast  graveyard,  reaching  in  all  directions  to  the 
sky-line,  bare  save  for  its  tombstones,  the  bleached 
skulls  of  millions  of  bison.  Afterward  the  sugar  re- 
finers sent  wagons  and  took  them  all  away. 

In  1880,  the  whole  of  the  prairie  nations  surrounded 
the  last  herds,  and  white  men  took  a  hundred  thousand 
robes  leaving  the  carcasses  to  rot  as  usual.  The  In- 
dians slaughtered  also  but  sold  the  robes  for  groceries, 
and  dried  the  whole  of  the  meat  for  winter  food. 

"  We  are  near  the  end  of  it,"  said  Red  Bird's  Tail. 
"  I  fear  that  this  is  our  last  buffalo  hunt.  Are  you 
sure,"  he  asked  Schultz,  "that  the  white  men  have 
seen  all  the  land  between  the  two  salt  waters  ?  " 

"  There  is  no  place,"  answered  the  trader,  "  where 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  BISON         171 

the  white  men  have  not  traveled,  and  none  of  them 
can  find  buffalo." 

"  That  being  the  case,"  said  the  chief  with  a  deep 
sigh,  "  misery  and  death  are  at  hand  for  me  and  mine." 

The  Indians  were  compelled  to  strip  the  plains  of 
every  living  creature,  the  Blackfeet,  despite  their  re- 
ligion, to  eat  fish  and  birds.  Then  came  the  winter; 
Schultz  and  his  wife  rode  at  dusk  to  the  camp  of 
Lodge-Pole  chief. 

"  Hurry,"  he  commanded  his  women,  "  cook  a  meal 
for  our  friends.  They  must  be  hungry  after  their 
long  ride." 

His  wives  brought  out  three  small  potatoes  and  two 
little  trout,  which  they  boiled.  "  'Tis  all  we  have," 
said  one  of  them,  brushing  the  tears  from  her  eyes, 
and  then  the  chief  broke  down. 

"  We  have  nothing,"  he  said  haltingly.  "  There  are 
no  more  buffalo.  The  Great  Father  sends  us  but  a 
little  food,  gone  in  a  day.  We  are  very  hungry. 
There  are  fish,  to  be  sure,  forbidden  by  the  Gods,  un- 
clean. We  eat  them,  but  they  do  not  give  us  any 
strength,  and  I  doubt  not  we  will  be  punished  for  eat- 
ing them.    It  seems  as  if  our  gods  had  forsaken  us." 

Mrs.  Schultz  went  out  and  brought  back  a  sack  of 
food,  and  they  made  a  feast,  merry  as  in  the  days  of 
plenty,  which  were  gone  forever. 

Schultz  came  from  the  starving  camps  to  write  a  let- 
ter to  a  New  York  paper,  but  it  was  never  printed  —  a 
matter  of  politics.  Then  he  advised  the  Indians  to 
kill  their  agent,  but  they  remembered  Colonel  Baker's 
visit. 

In  his  next  annual  report  the  agent  wrote  much 
about  the  Blackfeet,  whose  "heathenish  rites  were 


172 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


most  deplorable."  And  then  came  the  Winter  of 
Death,  when  a  chief,  Almost-a-dog,  checked  off  daily 
the  fate  of  a  starving  people.  Women  crowded  round 
the  windows  of  the  agent's  office,  holding  out  skinny 
children.  "  Go,"  he  would  say ;  "  go  away !  I  have 
nothing  for  you  1 " 

The  thirty  thousand  di'Iars  provided  for  their  fooc 
had  all  been  stolen,  but  there  was  plenty  of  corn  to 
fatten  fifty  chickens,  some  geese  and  ducks. 

Wolf  Head,  once  known  as  Wolverine,  rode  south 
to  Schultz's  trading  post  where  he  and  his  partner 
were  feeding  hosts  of  people,  but  when  they  heard  his 
story  of  death  after  death,  one  by  one  they  stole  away 
out  into  the  darkness,  sitting  upon  the  frozen  ground 
where  they  wailed  for  their  dead. 

That  night  Schultz  wrote  to  a  friend  of  his  in  New 
York,  known  to  the  Indians  as  Fisher  Cap.  Then  he 
rode  hard  and  far  to  consult  with  Father  Prando,  a 
Jesuit  priest,  who  had  also  been  writing  letters. 
Thanks  to  Fisher  Cap,  perhaps,  or  to  Father  Prando, 
the  government  sent  an  inspector,  and  one  day  he 
drove  into  the  agency.  "  Where  is  that  chicken 
house?"  he  yelled,  and  when  he  found  the  place, 
kicked  it  open.  "  Here  you !  "  he  called  to  the  Indians, 
and  tht/  did  the  rest. 

Next,  he  kicked  open  the  agent's  office.    "  You 

,"  said  he. 

Since  then  some  agents  have  been  honest,  but  the 
Piegan  tribe  has  never  recovered  from  the  Winter  of 
Death,  for  in  their  weakness,  they  fell  a  prey  to  dis- 
ease, and  only  a  remnant  is  left  of  that  ruined  people. 
But  for  Schultz,  the  despised  squaw-man,  not  one 
would  be  left  alive, 


XXIV 

A.  D.  1885 

GORDON 

■p\URING  the  Crimean  war,  when  our  men  in  the 
■■-'  trenches  before  Sebastopol  crowded  under  their 
earthworks  to  escape  the  Russian  fire,  one  of  the  sub- 
alterns showed  fear  unbecoming  an  officer.  The 
young  chap  meant  no  harm,  but  as  he  had  to  be  taught 
manners,  a  lieutenant  slightly  his  senior,  invited  him 
up  upon  the  ramparts.  There,  arm  in  arm,  *he  two 
walked  up  and  down,  the  senior  making  amusing  re- 
marks about  the  weather,  while  the  storm  of  lead 
swept  round  them,  and  the  Tommies  watched  horror- 
struck,  expecting  both  to  fall.  That  officer  who  gave 
lessons  in  courage,  was  Charles  George  Gordon. 

After  eight  years  of  varied  service  in  many  lands. 
Major  Gordon  came  to  Shanghai,  where  the  British 
officer  commanding  had  need  of  such  a  man.  The 
Taiping  rebels  at  war  with  the  Chinese  government 
numbered  one  million  five  hundred  thousand,  holding 
impregnable  cities,  and  threatening  the  British  mer- 
chants of  Shanghai.  These  had  raised  a  force  of  four 
thousand  Chinese  with  white  officers,  known  as  the 
Ever  Victorious  Army  because  they  were  always 
thrashed,  and  Gordon  took  over  the  command.  He 
«73 


in!| 


174 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


was  helped  by  Li  Hung  Chang,  commander-in-chief 
of  the  Chinese  airaies,  but  no  great  impression  had  as 
yet  been  made  upon  fifteen  hundred  thousand  rebels, 
trenched  in  the  impregnable  rock  cities,  which  stood  as 
islands  over  flat  lands  laced  with  canals.  Those  chan- 
nels made  the  land  impassable  for  troops,  but  Gordon 
brought  steamers,  and  where  a  city  fronted  him  with 
hundreds  of  guns  and  tier  upon  tier  of  unscalable 
walls,  he  steamed  round  the  canals,  cut  off  the  line  of 
communications,  then  dropped  in,  tmexpected,  in  the 
rear.  His  attack  was  always  a  most  unpleasant  sur- 
prise to  the  rebels,  beginning  with  gunnery  that  bat- 
tered down  the  walls,  until  up  a  slope  of  ruins  the 
storming  party  charged.  The  Taipings,  led  by  white 
adventurers,  defended  the  breach  with  desperation, 
and  Gordon  would  weep  because  of  the  slaughter,  his 
gentle  spirit  shocked  at  the  streams  of  blood.  "  Two 
men,"  he  says,  "of  the  Thirty-first  Regiment  were 
on  the  breach  at  Fort  San,  as  Taiping  leaders  for  the 
defense.  One  was  killed,  the  other,  struck  by  a  shell 
splinter,  was  taken  prisoner.  '  Mr.  Gordon,  Mr.  Gor- 
don, you  will  not  let  me  be  killed  I ' 

" '  Take  him  down  to  the  river  and  shoot  him  1 ' 
And  aside :  '  ?ut  him  in  my  boat,  let  the  doctor  at- 
tend him,  and  send  him  down  to  Shankhai.' " 

Gordon  not  only  saved  the  poor  adventurers,  but 
where  he  captured  garrisons  of  Taipings,  he  would 
arm  his  prisoners,  drill  them,  and  lead  them  on  to 
attack  fresh  cities  in  the  march  of  the  Ever  Victorious 
Army.  The  odds  weie  slightly  against  him,  three 
hundred  and  seventj'five  to  one  —  an  army  against 
three  hundred  and  seventy-five  armies  —  but  his  third 
siege  reduced  the  rebel  capital,  which  he  starved  into 


GORDON 


m 


surrender.  The  Taiping  generals  laid  dovra  their  arms 
to  Gordon  because  he  gave  them  their  lives.  Then  Li 
Hung  Chang  jumped  in  and  murdered  the  whole  gang 
of  generals,  and  Gordon,  sorely  annoyed,  for  the  only 
time  in  his  life  carried  a  gun.  For  a  whole  day,  re- 
volver in  hand,  he  hunted  the  Chinese  commander-in- 
chief  through  the  streets  of  Soo  Chow,  but  Li  was  too 
sly  for  him,  and  hid  under  some  matting  in  a  boat 
until  Gordon's  rage  cooled  down. 

This  Scotchman  who,  with  forty  men  in  a  steamer, 
destroyed  a  Taiping  army  near  Qum  San,  had  only 
one  weapon  for  his  personal  use  — a  little  bamboo 
swagger  cane,  such  as  Tommy  carries  in  the  street.  It 
was  known  to  the  Chinese  as  his  Magic  Wand  of  Vic- 
tory, with  which  he  had  overthrown  an  army  seven 
times  as  big  as  that  of  Great  Britain. 

The  Chinese  emperor  sent  an  imperial  decree  con- 
ferring four  thousand  pounds  and  all  sorts  of  honors. 
Gordon  wrote  on  the  back  of  the  parchment:  "  Re- 
gret that  owing  to  the  circumstances  which  occurred 
since  the  capture  of  Soo  Chow,  I  am  unable  to  re- 
ceive any  mark  of  his  majesty  the  emperor's  recogni- 
tion." So  he  sent  the  thing  back— a  slap  in  the  face 
for  China.  The  emperor  sent  a  gold  medal,  but  Gor- 
don, scratching  out  the  inscription,  gave  it  to  a  charity 
bazaar.  The  emperor  made  him  a  prince  of  the  Chi- 
nese empire,  and  with  the  u  iform  of  that  rank  as  a 
curio  in  his  trunk,  he  returned  to  England. 

In  China  he  was  prince  and  conqueror;  in  Graves- 
end  Major  Gordon  did  garrison  duty  and  kept  ducks, 
which  he  delighted  to  squirt  with  the  garden  syringe. 

He  was  a  Sunday-school  teacher,  and  reared  slum 
boys  to  manhood,  he  was  lady  bountiful  in  the  parish. 


176 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENiURE 


he  was  cranky  as  an  old  maid,  full  of  odd  whims,  a 
little  man,  with  tender  gray  eyes,  and  a  voice  like  a 
peal  of  bells.  For  six  years  he  rotted  in  Gravesend, 
then  served  a  couple  of  years  as  British  commissioner 
on  the  Danube,  and  then  in  1874  was  borrowed  by 
Egypt  to  be  viceroy  of  the  equatorial  provinces. 
There  he  made  history. 

The  Turkish  empire  got  its  supply  of  slaves  from 
this  big  Soudan,  a  tract  the  size  of  Europe,  whose 
only  trade  was  the  sale  of  human  flesh.  If  Gordon 
stopped  the  selling  of  slaves,  the  savages  ate  them. 
But  the  Egyptian  government  wanted  money,  so  Gor- 
don's work  was  to  stop  the  slave  trade,  get  the  people 
prosperous,  and  tax  them.  To  aid  him  he  had 
Egyptian  officials,  whose  only  interest  in  the  job  was 
the  collecting  of  bribes,  plunder  and  slaves  for  their 
private  use;  also  a  staff  of  Europeans,  all  of  whom 
died  of  fever  within  the  first  few  months.  Moreover, 
the  whole  native  population  was,  more  or  less,  at  war 
with  the  Egyptian  government 

Gordon  had  a  swift  camel,  and  a  reputation  for  sor- 
cery, because  leaving  his  escort  days  astern  in  the 
desert,  he  would  ride  alone  into  the  midst  of  a  hostile 
nation,  dressed  in  a  diplomatic  uniform  consisting  of 
gold  lace  and  trousers,  quite  unarmed,  but  compelling 
everybody  to  obey  his  orders.  He  was  so  tired  that 
he  wanted  to  die,  and  when  the  tribes  disobeyed  he 
merely  cut  off  their  whole  supply  of  water  until  they 
learned  to  behave.  So  for  five  years,  the  only  honest 
man  in  all  that  region  fought  the  Soudanese,  the 
Egyptian  government  and  the  British  ministry,  to  put 
an  end  to  slavery.     He  failed. 

Long  chapters  would  be  required  for  the  story  of 


Charles  George  Gordon 


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GORDON 


177 


Gordon's  work  in  Bessarabia,  Armenia,  India,  South 
Africa,  or  the  second  period  in  China. 

In  1884,  England,  having  taken  charge  of  Egypt, 
was  responsible  for  the  peace  of  Soudan.    But  the 
Arabs,  united  for  once,  and  led  by  their  prophet  — the 
Mahdi  — had  declared  a  holy  war  against  everybody, 
and  wiped  out  an  Egyptian  army.    So  England  said, 
"This  is  very  awkward;  let  us  pray";  and  the  gov- 
ernment made  up  its  mind  to  scuttle,  to  abandon  the 
whole  Soudan.    Of  course  the  Egyptians  in  the  Sou- 
dan, officials,  troops  and  people,  would  all  get  their 
throats  cut,  so  our  government  had  a  qualm  of  con- 
science.   Instead  of  sending  an  army  to  their  rescue, 
they  sent  Gordon,  with  orders  to  bring  the  Egyptians 
to  the  coast.    With  a  view  to  further  economies  they 
then  let  the  Arabs  cut  off  Gordon's  retreat  to  the 
coast.    England  folded  her  hands  and  left  him  to 
"erish. 

As  soon  as  Gordon  reached  Khartoum,  he  began  to 
send  away  the  more  helpless  of  the  Egyptian  people, 
and  before  the  siege  closed  down  some  two  thousand 
five  hundred  women,  children  and  servants  escaped 
from  thfi  coming  death.  At  the  last  moment  he  man- 
aged to  send  the  iinglishmen,  the  European,  and 
forty-five  soldiers  down  the  Nile.  They  were  saved, 
and  he  remained  to  die  with  his  soldiers.  "  May  our 
Lord,"  he  wrote,  "not  visit  us  as  a  nation  for  our 
sins ;  but  may  His  wrath  fall  on  me." 

He  could  not  believe  in  England's  cowardice,  but 
walled  his  city  with  ramp  and  bastion,  planned  mines 
and  raids,  kept  discipline  while  his  troops  were  starv- 
ing to  death,  and  the  Union  Jack  afloat  above  the 
palace,  praying  for  his  country  in  abasement,  waiting 


178 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


for  the  army  which  had  been  sent  tuo  late.  So  for 
nine  months  the  greatest  of  all  England's  engineers 
held  at  bay  an  army  of  seventy-five  thousand  fighting 
Arabs.  And  when  the  dty  fell,  rallying  the  last  fifty 
men  of  his  garrison,  he  went  to  his  death,  glad  that  he 
was  not  doomed  to  outlive  England's  honor. 

Year  after  year  our  army  fought  through  the  burn- 
ing deserts,  to  win  back  England's  honor,  to  make 
amends  for  the  death  of  her  hero-saint,  the  knightliest 
of  modem  men,  the  very  pattern  of  all  chivalry.  And 
then  his  grave  was  founcl,  a  heap  of  blood-stained 
ashes,  which  once  had  been  Khartoum. 

Now,  in  Trafalgar  Square,  men  lay  wreaths  at  the 
base  of  his  statue,  where  with  his  Magic  Wand  of 
Victory,  that  Prince  of  the  Chinese  Empire  and  Vice- 
roy of  the  African  Equatorial  Provinces,  stands  look- 
ing sorrowfully  on  a  people  who  were  not  worthy 
to  be  his  countrymen.  But  there  is  a  greater  monu- 
ment to  Gordon,  a  new  Soudan,  where  men  live  at 
peace  under  the  Union  Jack,  and  slavery  is  at  an  end 
forever. 


Hi 


XXV 

A.  D.  1896 

THE  OUTLAW  , 

T^AWN  was  breaking  of  a  summer's  day  in  1896, 
•■-'  when  Green-Grass-growing-in-the-water,  a  red 
Indian  scout,  came  trotting  into  Fort  MacLeod  with 
a  despatch  from  Standoff  for  Superintendent  Steele, 
of  the  Mounted  Police.  He  brought  news  that  the 
body  of  a  Blood  warrior.  Medicine-Pipe-Stem,  shot 
through  the  skull,  and  three  weeks  dead,  had  been 
found  in  an  empty  cabin. 

The  Blood  tribe  knew  how  Bad-Young-Jtan.  known 
to  the  whites  as  Charcoal,  had  three  weeks  before  come 
home  from  a  hunting  trip  to  his  little  cabin  where  his 
wife,  the  Marmot,  lived.  He  had  found  his  wife  in 
the  arms  of  Medicine-Pipe-Stem,  and  by  his  warrior's 
right  to  defend  his  own  honor,  had  shot  the  intruder 
down.  Charcoal  had  done  justice,  and  the  tribe  was 
ready  to  take  his  part,  whatever  the  agent  might  say 
or  the  Mounted  Police  might  do  for  the  white  man's 
law. 

A  week  had  passed  of  close  inquiry,  when  one  of 
the  scouts  rode  up  to  the  ration  house,  where  the 
people  we'  .  drawing  their  supplies  of  beef,  and  gave 
wammg  that  aarcoal  was  betrayed  to  the  Mounted 


i8o 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVEN  fURE 


Police.  Charcoal  demanded  the  name  of  his  betrayer, 
and  learned  that  Mr.  Wilson,  the  agent,  was  his  enemy. 
That  evening  Charcoal  waited  outside  the  agent's 
house,  watching  the  lighted  windows,  where,  on  the 
yellow  blinds  there  were  passing  shadows  cast  by  the 
lamp  within,  as  various  members  of  the  household 
went  about  their  business.  At  last  he  saw  Mr.  Wil- 
son's shadow  on  the  blind,  fired  and  shot  the  agent 
through  the  thigh.  The  household  covered  the 
lamps,  closed  the  shutters,  sent  for  help  and  hid  the 
wounded  man  on  a  couch  behind  the  front  door,  well 
out  of  range  from  the  windows.  Next  morning,  in 
broad  daylight,  Charcoal  went  up  to  the  house  with  a 
rifle  to  finish  Wilson,  walked  in  and  looked  about  him, 
but  failed  to  discover  his  victim  behind  the  oper  drc 
He  turned  away  and  rode  for  the  hills.  The  Mounted 
Police,  turned  out  for  the  pursuit,  were  misled  by  a 
hundred  rumors. 

D  Troop  at  the  time  numbered  one  hundred  seventy 
men,  the  pick  of  the  regiment,  including  some  of  the 
greatest  riders  and  teamsters  in  Nth  America,  and 
led  by  Colonel  S.  B.  Steele,  the  most  distinguished  of 
all  Canadian  frontiersmen.  After  he  had  posted 
men  to  guard  all  passes  through  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, he  had  a  district  about  ninety  miles  square 
combed  over  incessantly  by  strong  patrols,  so  that 
Charcoal's  escape  seemed  nearly  impossible.  The  dis- 
trict however,  was  one  of  foothills,  bush,  winding 
gorges,  tracts  of  boulders,  and  to  the  eastward  prairie, 
where  the  whole  Blood  and  Piegan  tribes  were  using 
every  subtlety  of  Indian  craft  to  hide  the  fugitive. 

Inspector  Jervis,  with  twenty  police  and  some  scouts, 
had  been  seventy  hours  in  the  saddle,  and  camped  at 


( 


THE  OUTLAW 


i8i 


Big  Bend  exhausted,  when  a  rider  came  flying  in  re- 
porting Charcoal  as  seen  at  Kootenai.  The  white  men 
rallied  for  the  twenty-eight-mile  march,  but  the  Indians 
lay,  and  were  kicked,  done  for,  refusing  to  move.  The 
white  men  scrambled  to  their  saddles,  and  reeled  oflf  on 
the  trail,  unconquerable. 

One  day  a  Mormon  settler  brought  news  to  Mr. 
Jervis  that  while  cutting  fence  rails,  he  had  seen  Char- 
coal  creep  out  from  the  bush  and  make  off  with  his 
coat.  So  this  Mormon  led  them  to  a  little  meadow, 
where  they  found  and  surrounded  a  tent.  Then  Mr. 
Jervis  took  two  men  and  pulled  aside  the  door,  while 
they  covered  the  place  with  their  revolvers.  Two 
Mormons  were  brought  out,  shaking  with  fright,  from 
the  tent. 

Further  on  in  the  gray  dawn,  they  came  to  another 
dearmg,  and  a  second  tent,  which  they  surrounded. 
Some  noise  disturbed  the  Marmot,  who  crept  sleepily 
to  the  door,  looked  out,  then  with  a  scream,  warned 
her  husband.  Charcoal  slashed  with  his  knife  through 
the  back  of  the  tent,  crept  into  the  bush,  and  thence 
fired,  his  bullet  knocking  the  cap  from  the  officer's 
head;  but  a  volley  failed  to  reach  the  Indian.  The 
tent  was  Charcoal's  winter  quarters,  stored  with  a  car- 
cass of  beef,  five  sacks  of  flour,  bacon,  sugar  and  deer- 
skm  for  his  shoes,  and  there  the  Marmot  was  taken 
with  a  grown  daughter,  and  a  little  son  called  Runnine 
Bear,  aged  eight. 

So  far,  in  many  weeks  of  the  great  hunt  aarcoal 
had  his  loyal  wife  to  ride  with  him.  and  they  used  to 
follow  the  police  patrols  in  order  to  be  sure  of  rest 
when  the  pursuers  camped.  Two  police  horses,  left 
half  dead,  were  taken  up  and  ridden  by  this  couple  an 


H'll 


I83 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


extra  forty  miles.  An  officer  and  a  buck  were  feeding 
at  Boundary  Creek  detachment  when  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Charcoal  stole  their  chargers  out  of  the  stable.  But 
now  Charcoal  had  to  face  the  prospect  of  a  lone  fight, 
and  with  the  loss  of  his  family,  fell  into  blind  despair. 
Then  all  his  kinsfolk  to  the  number  of  thirty-seven, 
were  arrested  and  lodged  in  prison. 

Since  his  raid  on  the  horses  at  Boundary  Creek,  all 
police  stables  were  locked,  and  visited  frequently  at 
night.  Corporal  Armour,  at  Lee's  Creek  came  out 
swinging  his  lantern,  sniffing  at  the  night,  bound  for 
the  stable,  when  he  saw  a  sudden  blaze  revealing  an 
Indian  face  behind  the  horse  trough,  while  a  bullet 
whisked  through  his  sleeve.  He  bolted  for  the  house, 
grabbed  his  gun  and  returned,  only  to  hear  a  horse 
galloping  away  into  the  night.  Charcoal  for  once, 
had  failed  to  get  a  remount.  Sergeant  Wilde  was  uni- 
versally loved  by  the  tribes.  The  same  feeling  caused 
his  old  regiment,  the  Blues,  at  Windsor,  to  beg  for 
Black  Prince,  his  charger,  after  his  death,  and  sent 
the  whole  body  of  the  Northwest  Mounted  Police 
into  mourning  when  he  fell.  Tradition  made  him  a 
great  aristocrat  under  an  assumed  name,  and  I  remem- 
bier  well  how  we  recruits,  in  the  olden  times,  were  im- 
pressed by  his  unusual  physical  beauty,  his  stature, 
horsemanship  and  singular  personal  distinction.  Am- 
brose attended  him  when  he  rode  out  for  the  last 
time  on  Black  Prince,  followed  by  an  interpreter  and 
a  body  of  Indian  scouts.  They  were  in  deep  snow  on 
a  plain  where  there  stands  a  line  of  boulders,  gigantic 
rocks,  the  subject  of  weird  legends  among  the  tribes. 
Far  off  against  the  sky  was  seen  riding  fast,  an  Indian 
who  swerved  at  the  nght  of  the  pursuit  and  was  neoog- 


THE  Ofl'^I^W 


»83 


nized  for  Qian  oai,  Wilde  ordered  Ambrose  to  gal- 
lop the  twenty  miiei,  is  i  inf  her  Creek,  turn  the  people 
out  in  the  queen's  name,  send  a  despatch  to  Fort  Mac- 
leod,  and  return  at  once.  The  Indians  tried  for  Char- 
coal at  long  range,  but  their  new  rifles  were  clogged 
with  factory  grease  hard  frozen,  so  that  the  pin  failed 
of  its  impact,  and  they  all  missed  fire.  Wilde's  great 
horse  was  drawing  ahead  of  the  ponies,  and  he  called 
back: — 

"  Don't  fire,  or  you'll  hit  me  by  mistake  I " 

As  he  overtook  Charcoal  he  drew  his  revolver,  the 
orders  being  to  fire  at  sight,  then  laid  the  weapon  be- 
fore him,  wanting  for  the  sake  of  a  great  tradition,  to 
make  the  usual  arrest  —  the  taking  of  live  outlaws  by 
hand.  Charcoal's  rifle  lay  across  the  saddle,  and  he 
held  the  reins  Indian  fashion  with  the  right  hand,  but 
when  Wilde  grabbed  at  his  shoulder,  he  swerved, 
touching  ihe  trigger  with  his  left.  The  bullet  went 
through  Wilde's  body,  then  deflecting  on  the  bone  of 
the  right  arm,  traversed  the  forearm,  came  out  of  the 
palm,  and  dropped  into  his  gauntlet  where  it  was 
found. 

Wilde  rolled  slowly  from  the  saddle  while  Black 
Prince  went  on  and  Charcoal  also,  but  then  the  outlaw 
turned,  galloped  back  and  fired  straight  downward 
into  the  dying  man.  Black  Prince  had  stopped  at  a 
little  distance  snorting,  and  when  the  Indian  came 
grabbing  at  his  loose  rein,  he  struck  with  his  forefeet 
in  rage  at  his  master's  murderer.  Charcoal  had  fired 
to  disable  Wilde  as  the  only  way  left  him  of  escaping 
"slavery";  now  he  had  to  conquer  the  dead  man's 
horse  to  make  his  escape  from  the  trackers. 

Some  three  weeks  ago.  Charcoal's  brothers,  Left 


184 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Hand  and  Bear  Paw,  had  been  released  from  jail,  with 
the  offer  of  forty  pounds  from  the  government  and  ten 
pounds  from  the  officer  commarding,  if  they  could 
capture  the  outlaw.  The  tribes  had  decided  that  Char- 
coal's body  belonged  of  right  to  the  police,  and  after 
Wilde's  death  he  could  expect  no  mercy  on  earth,  no 
help  or  succor  from  any  living  man.  From  the  slaying, 
like  a  wounded  beast  to  his  lair,  he  rode  direct  for 
home,  came  to  the  little  cabin,  tied  Black  Prince  to  a' 
bush  and  staggered  toward  the  door.  Out  of  the  house 
came  Left  Hand,  who  ran  tpward  him,  while  the  out- 
law, moved  by  some  brute  instinct,  fled  for  the  horse. 
But  Left  Hand,  overtaking  his  brother,  threw  his 
arms  about  him,  kissing  him  upon  both  cheeks,  and 
Bear  Paw,  following,  cast  h's  rope  over  the  helpless 
man,  throwing  him  down,  a  prisoner.  The  brothers 
carried  Charcoal  into  the  cabin,  pitched  him  down  in 
a  corner,  then  Left  Hand  rode  for  the  police  while 
Bear  Paw  stayed  on  guard. 

It  was  Sergeant  Macleod  who  came  first  to  the 
cabin  where  Bear  Paw  squatted  waiting,  and  Charcoal 
lay  to  all  appearance  dead  in  a  great  pool  of  blood 
upon  the  earthen  floor.  He  had  found  a  cobbler's 
awl  used  in  mending  skin  shoes,  and  opened  the  arter- 
ies of  his  arm,  that  he  might  take  refuge  from  treach- 
ery in  death.  From  ankle  to  groin  his  legs  were 
skinned  with  incessant  riding,  and  never  again  was 
he  able  to  stand  upon  his  feet. 

For  four  months  Charcoal  had  been  hunted  as  an 
enemy  by  D  Troop,  now  for  a  like  time  he  was  nursed 
in  the  guard-room  at  Fort  Macleod,  and,  though  he  lay 
chained  to  the  floor  in  mortal  pain,  his  brothers  of  the 
guard  did  their  best.    As  he  had  been  terrible  in  the 


w 


THE  OUTLAW 


I8S 


field,  so  this  poor  hero  was  brave  in  suffering  —  hum- 
ble, and  of  so  sweet  a  disposition  that  he  won  all 
men's  hearts.  Once  he  choked  himself  with  a  blanket ; 
once  poisoned  himself  with  a  month's  collection  of 
cigarette  stubs;  each  time  nearly  achieving  his  pur- 
pose, but  he  never  flinched,  never  gave  utterance  even 
to  a  sigh,  except  for  the  moaning  in  his  sleep. 

At  the  trial  his  counsel  called  no  witnesses,  but 
read  the  man's  own  defense,  a  document  so  sad,  so 
wonderfully  beautiful  in  expression,  that  the  court 
appealed  to  the  crown  for  mercy,  where  mercy  had 
become  impossible. 

When  he  was  taken  out  to  die,  the  troop  was  on 
guard  surrounding  the  barracks,  the  whole  of  the 
tribes  being  assembled  outside  the  fence.  The  pris- 
oner sat  in  a  wagon  face  to  face  with  the  execute  ner, 
who  wore  a  mask  of  black  silk,  and  beside  him  was  the 
priest.    Charcoal  began  to  sing  his  death  song. 

"  Stay,"  said  the  priest,  "  make  no  cry.  You're  far 
too  brave  a  man  for  that."  The  song  ceased,  and 
Charcoal  died  as  he  had  lived. 


XXVI 

A.  D.  1898 

'A  KING  AT  TWENTY-FIVE 

XT  THEN  a  boy  has  the  sea  in  his  blood,  when  he 
V V  prays  in  church  for  plague,  pestilence  and 
famine,  for  battle  and  murder  and  sudden  death,  his 
parents  will  do  well  to  thrash  him  tame.  For  then  if 
he  can  be  tamed  he  may  turn  out  well  as  a  respectable 
clerk ;  but  if  he  has  the  force  of  character  to  get  what 
he  wants  he  will  prove  himself  and  be,  perhaps,  like 
John  Boyes,  of  Hull,  a  king  at  twenty-five. 

Boyes  ran  away  to  sea,  and  out  of  the  tame  hum- 
drum iife  of  the  modem  merchant  service  made  for 
himself  a  world  of  high  adventure.  As  a  seaman  he 
landed  at  Durban,  then  earned  his  way  up-country  in 
all  sorts  of  trades  until  he  enlisted  in  the  Matabeleland 
Mounted  Police,  then  fought  his  way  through  the 
second  Matabele  war.  Afterward  he  was  a  trader, 
then  an  actor,  next  at  sea  again,  and  at  Zanzibar 
joined  an  Arab  trading  dhow.  When  ths  dhow  was 
wrecked,  and  the  crew  appealed  to  Allah.  Boyes  took 
command,  so  coming  to  Mombasa.  From  here  the 
crown  colony  was  building  a  railway  to  Uganda,  a 
difficult  job  because  the  lions  ate  all  the  laborers  they 
could  catch,  and  had  even  ttie  cheek  to  gobble  up  white 
186 


A  KING  AT  TWENTY-FIVE 


187 


officials.  Up-country,  the  black  troops  were  enjoying  a 
mutiny,  the  native  tribes  were  prickly,  the  roads  were 
impossible  and  there  was  no  food  to  be  had.  Boyes 
was  very  soon  at  the  head  of  a  big  transport  company, 
working  with  donkey  carts  and  native  carriers  to 
carry  food  for  the  authorities. 

Northward  of  the  reilway  was  Mount  Kenia,  a 
lofty  snow-clad  volcano;  and  round  his  foot-hills 
covering  a  tract  the  size  of  Yorkshire  or  of  Massachu- 
setts lived  the  Kikuyu,  a  negro  people  numbering  half 
a  million,  who  always  made  a  point  of  besieging  Brit- 
ish camps,  treating  our  caravans  to  volleys  of  poisoned 
darts,  and  murdering  every  visitor  who  came  within 
their  borders.  Boyes  went  into  that  country  to  buy 
food  to  supply  to  the  railway  workers  (1898). 

He  went  with  an  old  Martini-Henry  rifle,  and  seven 
carriers,  over  a  twelve  thousand  foot  pass  of  the  hills, 
and  down  through  bamboo  forest  into  a  popu- 
lous country,  where  at  sight  of  him  the  war  cry  went 
from  hill  to  hill,  and  five  hundred  warriors  assembled 
for  their  first  look  at  a  white  man.  Through  his 
interpreter  he  explained  that  he  came  to  trade  for 
food.  Presently  he  showed  what  his  old  rifle  could 
do,  and  v/hen  the  bullet  bored  a  hole  through  a  tree 
he  told  them  that  it  had  gone  through  the  moun- 
tain beyond  and  out  at  the  other  side.  A  man  with 
such  a  gun  was  worthy  of  respect,  especially  when 
his  drugs  worked  miracles  among  the  sick.  Next 
day  the  neighbors  attacked  this  tribe  which  had  re- 
ceived a  white  man  instead  of  killing  him,  but 
Boyes  with  his  rifle  turned  defeat  to  victory,  and 
with  iodoform  treated  the  wounded.  The  stuff  smelt 
so  strong  that  tnere  could  be  no  doubt  of  its  magic, 


i88 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


The  white  man  made  a  friend  of  the  Chief  Karuri, 
and  through  the  adventures  which  followed  they  were 
loyal  allies.  Little  by  little  he  taught  the  tribesmen  to 
hold  themselves  in  check,  to  act  together.  He  began  to 
drill  them  in  military  formation,  a  front  rank  of  spear- 
men  with  shields  touching,  a  rear  rank  of  bowmen 
with  poisoned  arrows.  So  when  they  were  next  at- 
tacked they  captured  the  enemy's  chief,  and  here  again 
the  white  man's  magic  was  ivery  powerful  — "  Don't 
waste  him,"  said  Boyes.  The  captive  leader  was  put 
to  ransom,  released,  and  made  an  ally,  a  goat  being 
clubbed  to  death  in  token  that  the  tribes  were  friends. 
Then  a  night  raid  obtained  thirty  rifles  and  plenty  of 
ammunition,  and  a  squad  of  picked  men  with  modern 
arms  soon  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  white  man's 
growing  army.  When  the  Masai  came  up  against  him 
Boyes  caught  them  in  ambush,  cut  their  line  of  retreat, 
killed  fifty,  took  hundreds  of  prisoners  and  proved 
that  raiding  his  district  was  an  error.  He  was  a  great 
man  now,  and  crowds  would  assemble  when  he  re- 
freshed himself  with  a  dose  of  fruit  salts  that  looked 
like  boiling  water.  His  district  was  at  peace,  and  soon 
made  prosperous  with  a  carrier  trade  supplying  food 
to  the  white  men. 

Many  attempts  were  made  by  the  witch  doctors 
against  his  life,  but  he  seemed  to  thrive  on  all  the 
native  poisons.  It  was  part  of  his  clever  policy 
to  take  his  people  by  rail  drawn  by  a  railway 
engine,  which  they  supposed  to  be  alive,  in  a  fever, 
and  most  frightfully  thirsty.  He  took  them  down  to 
the  sea  at  Mombasa,  even  on  board  a  ship,  and  on  his 
return  from  all  these  wonders  he  rode  a  mule  into  the 
Kikuyu  country — "Some  sort  of  lion,"  the  natives 


A  KING  AT  TWENTY-FIVE 


189 


thought.  It  impressed  the  whole  nation  when  they 
heard  of  the  white  man  riding  a  lion.  He  had  a  kettle 
too,  with  a  cup  and  saucer  to  brew  tea  for  the  chiefs, 
and  a  Union  Jack  at  the  head  of  his  marching  column, 
and  his  riflemen  in  khaki  uniform.  All  that  was  good 
stage  management,  but  Boyes  had  other  tricks  beyond 
mere  bluff.  A  native  chief  defied  him  and  had  five 
hundred  warriors  in  line  of  battle;  but  Boyes,  with 
ten  followers  only,  marched  up,  clubbed  him  over  the 
head,  and  ordered  the  warriors  to  lay  down  their  arms 
on  pain  of  massacre.  The  five  hundred  supposed 
themselves  to  be  ambushed,  and  obeyed.  It  was 
really  a  great  joke. 

So  far  the  adventurer  had  met  only  with  little 
chiefs,  but  now  at  the  head  of  a  fairly  strong  caravan 
he  set  forth  on  a  tour  of  the  whole  country,  sending 
presents  to  the  great  Qiiefs  Karkerrie  and  Wagomba, 
and  word  that  he  wanted  to  trade  for  ivory.  Kar- 
kerrie came  to  call  and  was  much  excited  over  a  little 
clock  that  played  tunes  to  order,  especially  when  a 
few  drops  of  rain  seemed  to  follow  the  music.  "  Does 
it  make  rain? "  asked  Karkerrie.         ^ 

"  Certainly,  it  makes  rain  all  right,"  answered  Boyes. 

But  it  so  happened  that  rain  was  very  badly  needed, 
and  when  Boyes  failed  to  produce  a  proper  downpour 
the  folk  got  tired  of  hearing  his  excuses.  They 
blamed  him  for  the  drought,  refused  lO  trade  and  con- 
spired with  one  of  his  men  to  murder  him.  Boyes' 
camp  became  a  fort,  surrounded  by  several  thousands 
of  hostile  savages.  One  pitch-dark  evening  the  war 
cry  of  the  tribe  ran  from  village  to  village  and  there 
was  wailing  among  the  women  and  children.  The 
hyenas,  knowing  the  signs  of  a  coming  feast,  howled, 


ij,:i 


190 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


and  all  through  the  neighborhood  of  the  camp  the 
warriors  were  shouting,  "  Kill  the  white  man  I " 

As  hour  by  hour  went  by  the  sounds  and  the  silences 
got  on  the  white  man's  nerves.  It  was  always  very 
difficult  to  keep  Kikuyu  sentries  awake,  and  as  he  kept 
on  his  rounds,  waiting  the  inevitable  storming  of  his 
camp  at  dawn,  Boyes  felt  the  suspense  become  intoler- 
able. At  last,  hearing  from  one  of  his  spies  that  Kar- 
kerrie  was  close  at  hand  dis|X)sing  his  men  for  the  as- 
sault, Boyes  stole  out  with  a  couple  of  men,  and  by  a 
miracle  of  luck  kidnaped  the  hostile  chief,  whom  he 
brought  back  into  the  fort  a  prisoner.  Great  was  the 
amazement  of  the  natives  when  at  the  gray  of  dawn, 
the  very  moment  fixed  for  their  attack,  they  heard 
Karkerrie  shouting  from  the  midst  of  the  fort  orders 
to  retreat,  and  to  disperse.  A  revolver  screwed  into 
his  ear  hole  had  converted  the  Chief  Karkerrie. 
Within  a  few  days  more  came  the  copious  rains 
brought  by  the  white  chief's  clock,  and  he  became 
more  popular  than  ever. 

Boyes  made  his  next  journey  to  visit  Wakamba, 
biggest  of  all  the  chiefs,  whose  seat  was  on  the  foot- 
hills of  the  great  snow  mountain.  This  chief  was 
quite  friendly,  and  delightfully  frank,  describing  the 
foolishness  of  Arabs,  Swahili  and  that  class  of  travel- 
ers who  neglected  to  take  proper  precautions  and 
deserved  their  fate.  He  was  making  quite  a  nice  col- 
lection of  their  rifles.  With  his  camp  constantly  sur- 
rounded and  infested  by  thousands  of  savages,  Boyes 
complained  to  Wakamba  about  the  cold  weather,  said 
he  would  like  to  put  up  a  warm  house,  and  got  plenty 
of  help  in  building  a  fort.  The  chief  thought  this  two- 
storied  tower  with  its  outlying  breastworks  was  quite 


A  KING  Af  TWENTY-FIVE  191 

a  good  idea.    "What  a  good  thing,"  said  he,  "to 
keep  a  rush  of  salvages  out." 

After  long  negotiations,  Boyes  managed  to  bring 
the  whole  of  the  leading  chiefs  of  the  nation  together 
in  friendly  conference.  The  fact  that  they  all  hated 
one  another  like  poison  may  explain  some  slight  delay, 
for  the  white  man's  purpose  was  nothing  less  than  a 
solemn  treaty  of  blood-brotherhood  with  them  all. 

The  ceremony  began  with  the  cutting  into  small 
pieces  of  a  sheep's  heart  and  liver,  these  being  toasted 
upon  a  skewer,  making  a  mutton  Kabob.  Olomondo, 
chief  of  the  Wanderobo,  a  nation  of  hunters,  then 
took  a  sharp  arrow  with  which  he  cut  into  the  flesh  of 
each  Blood-Brother  just  above  the  heart.  The  Kabob 
was  then  passed  round,  and  each  chief,  taking  a  piece 
of  meat,  rubbed  it  in  his  own  blood  and  gave  it  to  his 
neighbor  to  be  eater.  When  Boyes  had  eaten  blood 
of  all  the  chiefs,  and  all  had  eaten  his,  the  peace  was 
sealed  which  made  him  in  practise  king  of  the  Kikuyu. 
He  was  able  at  last  to  take  a  holiday,  and  spent  some 
months  out  hunting  among  the  Wanderobo. 

While  the  Kikuyu  nation  as  a  whole  fed  out  of  the 
white  chief's  hand,  he  still  had  the  witch  doctors  for 
his  enemies,  and  one  very  powerful  sorcerer  caused 
the  Chinga  tribes  to  murder  three  Goa  Portuguese. 
These  Eurasian  traders,  wearing  European  dress, 
were  mistaken  for  white  men,  and  their  death  showed 
the  natives  that  it  would  be  quite  possible  to  kill  Boyes. 
who  was  now  returning  toward  civilization  with  an 
mimense  load  of  ivory.  Boyes  came  along  in  a  hurry, 
riding  ahead  of  his  slow  caravan  with  only  four  at- 
tendants and  these  he  presently  distanced,  galloping 
akwg  a  path  between  two  hedges  among  the  field}  of 


193 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


a  friendly  tribe  —  straight  into  a  deadly  native  ambush. 
Then  the  mule  shied  out  of  the  path,  bolted  across  the 
fields  and  saved  his  life.  Of  the  four  attendants  be- 
hind, two  were  speared.  Moreover  the  whole  country 
was  wild  with  excitement,  and  five  thousand  fighting 
men  were  marching  against  Boyes.  He  camped, 
fenced  his  position  and  stood  to  arms  all  night,  short 
of  ammunition,  put  to  the  last,  the  greatest  of  many 
tests.  Once  more  his  nerves  were  overstrung,  the  de- 
lay terrified  hin ,  the  silence  appalled  him  waiting  for 
dawn,  and  dcth.  And  as  usual  he  treated  the  natives 
to  a  new  kind  of  surprise,  taking  his  tiny  force  against 
the  enemy's  camp :  "  They  had  not  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  put  any  sentries  out." 

"  Here,"  says  Boyes,  "  we  found  the  warriors  still 
drinking  and  feasting,  sitting  round  their  fires,  so  en- 
grossed in  their  plans  for  my  downfall  tliat  they  en- 
tirely failed  to  notice  our  approach;  so,  stealthily 
creeping  up  till  we  were  close  behind  them,  we  pre- 
pared to  complete  our  surprise.  .  .  .  Not  a  sound 
had  betrayed  our  advance,  and  they  were  still  quite 
ignorant  of  our  presence  almost  in  the  midst  of  them. 
The  echoing  crack  of  my  rifle,  which  was  to  be  the 
signal  for  the  general  attack,  was  immediately  drowned 
in  the  roar  of  the  other  guns  as  my  men  poured  in  a 
volley  that  could  not  fail  to  be  effective  at  that  short 
range,  while  accompanying  the  leaden  missiles  was  a 
cloud  of  arrows  sent  by  that  part  of  my  force 
which  was  not  armed  with  rifles.  The  effect  of  this 
unexpected  onslaught  was  electrical,  the  savages  start- 
ing up  with  yells  of  terror  in  a  state  of  utter  panic. 
Being  taken  so  completely  by  surprise,  they  could  not 
at  first  realize  what  had  happened,  and  the  place  was 


A  KING  AT  TWENTY-FIVE 


•93 


for  a  few  minutes  a  pandemonium  of  howling  niggers, 
who  rushed  about  in  the  faint  light  of  the  camp-fires, 
jostling  each  other  and  stumbling  over  the  bodies  of 
those  who  had  fallen  at  the  first  volley,  but  quite  un- 
able to  see  who  had  attacked  them ;  while,  before  they 
had  recovered  from  the  first  shock  of  surprise,  my  men 
had  reloaded,  and  again  a  shower  of  bullets  and  arrows 
carried  death  into  the  seething,  disorganized  mass. 
This  volley  completed  the  rout,  and  without  waiting  a 
moment  longer  the  whole  crowd  rushed  pell-mell  into 
the  bush,  not  a  savage  who  could  get  away,  remaining 
in  the  clearing,  and  the  victory  was  complete." 

It  had  taken  Boyes  a  year  to  fight  his  way  to  that 
kingdom  which  had  no  throne,  and  for  another  eight- 
een months  of  a  thankless  reign  he  dealt  with  famine, 
smallpox  and  other  worries  until  one  day  there  came 
two  Englishmen,  official  tenderfeet,  into  that  big  wild 
land  which  Boyes  had  tamed.  They  came  to  take  pos- 
session, but  instead  of  bringing  Boyes  an  appointment 
as  commissioner  for  King  Edward  they  made  him 
prisoner  in  presence  of  his  retinue  of  a  thousand  fol- 
lowers, and  sent  him  to  escort  himself  down-country 
charged  with  "  dacoity,"  murder,  flying  the  Union  Jack, 
cheeking  officials,  and  being  a  commercial  bounder. 
At  Mombasa  there  was  a  comedy  of  imprisonment,  a 
farce  of  trial,  an  apology  from  the  judge,  but  never 
a  word  of  thanks  to  the  boyish  adventurer  who  had 
tamed  half  a  million  savages  until  they  were  prepared 
to  enter  the  British  Peace. 


XXVII 

A.  D.  1898 

JOURNEY  OF.EWART  GROGAN 

FROM  the  Right  Honorable  Cecil  Rhodes  to  Ewart 
S.  Grogan  in  the  year  1900:  — 
"  I  must  say  I  envy  you,  for  you  have  done  that 
which  has  been  for  centuries  the  ambition  of  every 
explorer,  namely,  to  walk  through  Africa  from  South 
to  North.  The  amusement  of  the  whole  thing  is  that  a 
youth  from  Cambridge  during  his  vacation  should 
have  succeeded  in  doing  that  which  the  ponderous  ex- 
plorers of  the  world  have  failed  to  accomplish.  There 
is  a  distinct  humor  in  the  whole  thing.  It  makes  me 
the  more  certain  that  we  shall  complete  the  telegraph 
and  railway,  for  surely  I  am  not  going  to  be  beaten 
by  the  legs  of  a  Cambridge  undergraduate." 

It  took  death  himself  to  beat  Rhodes.  Two  years 
after  that  letter  was  written  news  went  out  through 
the  army  in  South  Africa  that  he  was  dead.  We  were 
stunned ;  we  felt  too  sick  to  fight.  For  a  moment  the 
guns  were  hushed,  and  silence  fell  on  the  veldt  after 
years  of  war.  That  silence  was  the  herald  of  lastmg 
peace  for  British  Africa,  united  by  Stronger  bond* 
than  rail  or  telegraph. 

Grogan  was  an  undergraduate  not  only  of  Cam- 
194 


JOURNEY  OF  EWART  GROGAN       195 

bridge,  but  alto  of  the  bigger  schooli  called  War  and 
Adventure,  for  he  had  traveled  in  the  South  Seal, 
climbed  in  the  Alps,  and  fought  in  the  Matabele  cam- 
paigns, before  he  made  his  holiday  walking  tour  from 
the  Cape  to  Cairo.  He  was  not  the  usual  penniless 
adventurer,  but,  reckoned  by  frontier  standards,  a  man 
of  means,  with  the  good  manners  that  ease  the  way 
for  any  traveler.  From  the  Cape  to  the  Zambesi  he 
had  no  need  to  tread  old  trails  again,  and  far  into  the 
heart  of  Africa  there  were  already  colonies  with 
steamers  to  speed  the  journey  up  to  Lake  Tanganyika, 
where  his  troubles  really  began.  Through  two-thirds 
of  the  journey  Grogan  had  a  partner,  Mr.  A.  H.  Sharp, 
but  they  were  seldom  in  company,  for  one  would  ex- 
plore ahead  while  the  other  handled  their  caravan  of 
one  hundred  fifty  negro  carriers,  or  one  or  both  went 
hunting,  or  lay  at  the  verge  of  death  with  a  dose  of 
fever. 

Their  route  lay  along  the  floor  of  a  gash  in  the  con- 
tinent, a  deep  abyss  called  the  Great  Rift,  in  which  lies 
a  chain  of  lakes:  Nyassa,  Tanganyika,  Kevu,  Al- 
bert Edward,  and  Albert,  whence  the  Nile  flows 
down  into  distant  Egypt.  This  rift  is  walled  and 
sometimes  blocked  by  live  volcanoes,  fouled  with 
swamps,  gigantic  forests  and  new  lava  floods,  reeking 
with  fever,  and  at  the  time  of  the  journey  was  beset 
by  tribes  of  hostile  cannibals.  This  pleasant  path  led 
to  Khartoum,  held  in  those  days  by  the  Khalifa  with 
his  dervish  army.  The  odds  were  about  a  thousand 
to  one  that  these  two  British  adventurers  were  march- 
ing straight  to  death  or  slavery.  Their  attempt  was 
madness  — that  divine  madness  that  inspires  all  pio- 
neers. 


196 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Now  for  a  glimpse  into  this  great  adventure : 
"  I  had  shot  a  zebra  .  .  .  and  turning  out  at  five- 
thirty  A.  M.  crept  up  within  sixty  yards.  ...  I  saw  in 
the  middle  of  a  circle  of  some  two  hundred  vultures  a 
grand  old  Hon,  leisurely  gnawing  the  ribs,  and  behind, 
four  little  jackals  sitting  in  a  row.  .  .  .  Behind 
stretched  the  limitless  plain,  streaked  with  mists  shim- 
mering in  the  growing  light  of  the  rising  sun,  clumps 
of  graceful  palms  fenced)  in  a  sandy  arena  where  the 
zebra  had  fallen  and  round  his  attenuated  remains, 
and  just  out  of  reach  of  the  swish  of  the  monarch's 
tail,  the  solid  circle  of  waiting  vultures,  craning  their 
bald  necks,  chattering  and  hustling  one  another,  and 
the  more  daring  quartette  within  the  magic  circle  like 
four  little  images  of  patience,  while  the  lion  in  all  his 
might  and  matchless  grandeur  of  form,  leisurely 
chewed  and  scrunched  the  titbits,  magnificently  re- 
gardless of  the  watchful  eyes  of  the  encircling  ca- 
naille. ...  I  watched  the  scene  for  fully  ten  minutes, 
then  as  he  showed  signs  of  moving  I  took  the  chance 
afforded  of  a  broadside  shot  and  bowled  him  over  with 
the  .500  magnum.  In  inserting  another  cartridge  the 
gun  jammed,  and  he  rose,  but  after  looking  round 
for  the  cause  of  the  interruption,  without  success, 
started  off  at  a  gallop.  With  a  desperate  effort  I  closed 
the  gun  and  knocked  him  over  again.  He  was  a  fine 
black-maned  lion  and  as  lie  lay  in  a  straight  line  from 
tip  to  top  ten  feet,  four  inches,  a  very  unusual  length." 
Among  the  volcanoes  near  Lake  Kivo,  Grogan  dis- 
covered a  big  one  that  had  been  thrown  up  within 
the  last  two  years,  and  there  were  vast  new  floods  of 
lava,  hard  to  cross.  One  day,  while  searching  out  a 
route  for  the  expedition,  he  had  just  camped  at  a 


JOURNEY  OF  EWART  GROGAN        197 

height  of  nine  thousand  feet  in  the  forest  when  he 
found  the  fresh  tracks  of  a  bull  elephant,  and  the 
spoor  was  much  larger  than  he  had  ever  seen.  When 
he  overtook  this  giant  the  jungle  was  so  dense  that 
only  the  ridge  of  his  back  was  visible,  and  for  some 
time  he  watched  the  animal  picking  the  leaves  off  a  tree  " 
When  fodder  ran  short  he  tore  down  a  tree  whose 
trunk  was  two  feet  thick,  and  fearing  he  might  move 
on,  Grogan  fired.  The  elephant  fell,  but  recovered  and 
dashed  away,  so  that  there  were  some  hours  of  track- 
mg  before  the  hunter  could  catch  up  again.  And  now 
on  a  flaw  of  wind  the  giant  scented  him. 

"The  noise  was  terrific,  and  it  suddenly  dawned 
upon  me  that  so  far  from  moving  off  he  was  coming 
on.     I  was  powerless  to  move  — a  fall  would  have 
been  fatal  — so  I  waited;  but  the  forest  was  so  dense 
that  I  never  saw  him  till  his  head  was  literally  above 
me,  when  I  fired  both  barrels  of  the  .500  magnum  in 
his  face.    The  whole  forest  seemed  to  crumple  up, 
and  a  second  later  I  found  myself  ten  feet  above  the 
ground,  well  home  in  a  thorn  bush,  while  my  gun 
was  lying    in  yards  away  in  the  opposite  direction  ; 
and  I  heard  a  roar  as  of  thunder  disappearing  into  the 
distance.    A    few    seconds    later    the    most    daring 
of  my  boys,  Zowanji,  came  hurrying  along  with  that 
sickly  green  hue  that  a  nigger's  face  assumes  in  mo- 
ments of  fear,  and  with  his  assistance  I  descended 
from  my  spiky  perch.    I  was  drenched  with  blood, 
which    fortunately    proved    to    be    not    mine,    but 
that  of  the  el^hant;  my  gun,  which  I  recovered,  was 
also  covered  with  blood,  even  to  the  inside  of  the 
barrels.    The  only  damage  I  susUined  was  a  slightly 
twisted  knee.    I  can  not  say  whether  the  eleifcant 


i 


198 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


r 


actually  struck  me,  or  whether  I  was  carried  there  by 
the  rush  of  the  country." 

Following  up,  Grogan  found  enormous  pools  of 
blood,  and  half  a  mile  farther  on  heard  grunts  that 
showed  that  the  elephant  had  scented  him.  The  ani- 
mal rushed  about  with  terrifying  shrieks,  devastated 
half  an  acre  of  forest,  and  then  moved  on  again. 
Several  times  the  hunter  caught  up,  but  the  elephant 
moved  on  at  an  increasing  pace,  until  sunset  put  an 
end  to  Grogan's  hopes. 

This  part  of  the  Rift  has  belts  of  forest,  and  close 
beside  them  are  patches  of  rich  populous  country 
where  black  nations  live  in  fat  contentment.  But  for 
five  years  there  had  been  trouble  to  the  westward 
where  the  Congo  army  had  chased  out  the  Belgian  ofii- 
cials  and  run  the  country  to  suit  themselves.  Still 
worse,  there  were  certain  cannibal  tribes  moving  like 
a  swarm  of  locusts  through  Central  Africa,  eating  the 
settled  nations.  Lately  the  swarm  had  broken  into 
the  Rift,  and  as  Grogan  explored  northward  he  found 
the  forest  full  of  corpses.  Here  and  there  lurked 
starving  fugitives,  but  despite  their  frantic  warnings 
he  moved  on  until  he  came  to  a  wide  province  of  deso- 
lated farms  and  ruined  villages.  Seeing  that  he  had 
but  a  dozen  followers  a  mob  of  cannibals  attacked  at 
night;  but  as  they  rushed,  six  fell  to  the  white  man's 
rifle,  and  when  the  rest  fled  he  picked  them  off  at  the 
range  of  a  mile,  as  long  as  he  could  find  victims. 
Then  he  entered  a  house  where  they  had  been  feast- 
ing. "A  cloud  of  vultures  hovering  ove?  the  spot 
gave  me  an  inkling  of  what  I  was  about  to  see;  but 
the  realization  defies  description;  it  haunts  me  in  my 
dreams,  at  dinner  it  jit?  on  my  leg-of-mutton,  it  bub- 


JOURNEY  OF  EWART  GROGAN       199 

bles  in  my  soup,  in  fine,  Watonga  (the  negro  gun 
bearer)  would  not  eat  the  potatoes  that  grew  in  the 
same  country." 

Grogan  fled,  and  starved,  for  the  mountain  streams 
were  choked  with  corpses,  the  woods  were  a  nightmare 
horror,  to  eat  and  sleep  were  alike  impossible.  He 
warned  his  partner  and  the  expedition  marched  by 
another  route. 

Two  very  queer  kinds  of  folk  he  met  in  tl  ,  forests : 
the  pygmies  and  the  ape-men.  The  pygmies  are  little 
hunters  and  not  more  than  three  feet  tall,  but  sturdy 
and  compact,  immensely  strong,  able  to  travel  through 
the  pig-runs  of  the  jungle,  and  brave  enough  to  kill 
elephants  with  their  tiny  poisoned  arrows.  He  found 
them  kindly,  clever  little  folk,  though  all  the  other 
explorers  have  disliked  them. 

The  ape-men  were  tall,  with  hanging  paunch  and 
short  legs,  a  small  skull  and  huge  jaws,  face,  body  and 
legs  covered  with  wiry  hair.  The  hang  of  the  long 
powerful  arms,  the  slight  stoop  of  the  trunk,  and  the 
hunted  vacant  expression  of  the  face  were  marked. 
The  twenty  or  thirty  of  them  Grogan  met  were 
frightened  at  first  but  afterward  became  very  friendly, 
proud  to  show  him  their  skill  in  making  fire  with  their 
fire  sticks. 

Once  in  the  forest  he  found  the  skeleton  of  an  ape 
of  gigantic  size.  The  natives  explained  Ihat  such  apes 
were  plentiful,  although  no  white  man  has  ever  seen 
one.    They  have  a  bad  habit  of  stealing  negro  women. 

At  the  northern  end  of  the  Rift,  where  the  country 
flattens  out  toward  the  Nile,  Grogan  and  Sharp  met 
with  the  officials  of  British  Uganda,  which  was  then 
in  a  shocking  muddle  of  mutinous  black  troops,  raids 


N 


20O 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


from  the  Congo,  drought  and  famine.  There  Mr. 
Sharp  left  the  expedition,  making  his  way  to  Mom- 
basa ;  the  carriers  were  sent  back  home  as  a  good  rid- 
dance, and  Mr.  Grogan,  with  only  five  faithful  attend- 
ants, pushed  on  down  the  Nile  Valley.  The  river  was 
blocked  with  a  weed  called  the  sudd,  which  a  British 
expedition  was  trying  to  clear  away,  and  Grogan  was 
forced  to  the  eastward  through  horrible  marshlands. 
He  had  in  all  only  fourteen  men  when  he  came  to  the 
Dinka  country,  and  met  thit  queer  race  of  swamp  folk. 
'"hey  are  very  tall,  some  even  gigantic,  beautifully 
uuilt,  but  broad-footed,  walking  with  feet  picked  up 
high  and  thrust  far  forward  —  the  gait  of  a  pelican. 
At  rest  they  stand  on  one  leg  like  a  wading  bird,  the 
loose  leg  akimbo  with  its  foot  on  the  straight  leg's 
knee.  They  are  fierce,  too,  and  one  tribe  made  an  at- 
tack on  Grogan's  party.  His  men  threw  down  their 
loads,  screaming  that  they  were  lost,  and  the  best 
Congo  soldier  fell  stabbed  to  the  heart,  while  t\.o 
others  went  down  with  cracked  skulls. 

"  I  took  the  chief,"  says  Grogan,  "  and  his  right- 
hand  man  with  the  double  barrtl,  then,  turning  round, 
found  that  my  boy  had  bolted  with  my  revolver.  At 
the  same  moment  a  Dinka  hurled  his  spear  at 
me;  I  dodged  it,  but  he  rushed  in  and  dealt  me  a 
swinging  blow  with  his  club,  which  I  fortunately 
warded  with  my  arm,  receiving  no  more  damage  than 
a  wholesome  bruise.  I  poked  my  empty  gun  at  his 
stomach,  and  he  turned,  receiving  a  second  afterwards 
a  dum-dum  in  the  small  of  his  back.  Then  they 
broke  and  ran,  my  army  with  eight  guns  having  suc- 
ceeded in  firing  two  shots.  I  climbed  up  an  ant  hill 
that  was  close  by,  and  could  ste  them  watching  at 


JOURNEY  OF  EWART  GROGAN       201 

about  three  hundred  yards  for  our  next  move, 
which  was  an  unexpected  one,  for  I  planted  a 
dum-dum  apparently  in  the  stomach  of  one  of  the 
most  obtrusive  ruffians,  whom  I  recognized  by  his 
great  height.  They  then  hurried  off  and  bunched  at 
about  seven  hundred  yards,  and  another  shot,  whether 
fatal  or  not  I  could  not  see,  sent  them  off  in  all' 
directions." 

The  battle  was  finished,  and  Grogan  toiled  on  with 
his  wounded  men,  famished,  desperate,  almost  hope- 
less. One  day  in  desert  country  he  came  to  the  camp 
of  Captain  Dunn,  a  British  officer. 

"  Captain  Dunn :    'How  do  you  do?' 

"  I :  '  Oh,  very  fit,  thanks ;  how  are  you  ?  Had  any 
sport?' 

"Dunn:  'Oh,  pretty  fair,  but  there  is  nothing 
here.    Have  a  drink?' 

"Then  wc  washed,  lunched,  discusset"  the  war, 
(South  Africa),  and  eventually  Dunn  asked  where  the 
devil  I  had  come  from." 

The  battle  of  Omdurman  had  destroyed  the  dervish 
power,  and  opened  the  Nile  so  that  Grogan  went  on  in 
ease  and  comfort  by  steamer  to  Khartoum,  to  Cairo, 
and  home.  Still  he  heard  in  his  sleep  the  night 
melody  of  the  lions  —  "  The  usual  cry  is  a  sort  of  vast 
sigh,  taken  up  by  the  chorus  with  a  deep  sob,  sob,  sob, 
or  a  curious  rumbling  noise.  But  the  pukka  roar  is 
indescribable  ...  it  seems  tc  :'^:  leate  the  whole  uni- 
verse, thundering,  rumbling,  majestic:  there  is  no 
music  in  the  world  so  sweet." 

It  is  hard  to  part  with  this  Irish  gentleman,  whose 
fourteen  months'  traverse  of  the  Dark  Continent  is  the 
finest  deed  in  the  history  of  African  exploration. 


XXVIII 

A.  D.  1900 

THE  COWBOY  PRESIDENT 

LET  others  appraise  the  merits  of  this  great  Ameri- 
can gentleman  as  governor  of  New  York,  secre- 
tary of  the  United  States  Navy,  colonel  of  the  Rough 
Riders,  historian  of  his  pet  hero,  Oliver  Cromwell,  and, 
finally,  president  of  the  republic.  He  had  spent  half 
his  life  as  an  adventurer  on  the  wild  frontier  breaking 
horses,  punching  cows,  fighting  grizzly  bears,  before 
he  ever  tackled  the  politicians,  and  he  had  much  more 
fun  by  the  camp-fire  than  he  got  in  his  marble  palace. 
Here  is  his  memory  of  a  prairie  fire: — "As  I  gal- 
loped by  I  saw  that  the  fire  had  struck  the  trees  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  below  me,  in  the  dried  timber  it 
instantly  sprang  aloft  like  a  giant,  and  roared  in  a 
thunderous  monotone  as  it  swept  up  the  coulee.  I 
galloped  to  the  hill  ridge  ahead,  saw  that  the  fire  line 
had  already  reached  the  divide,  ?r.d  turned  my  horse 
sharp  on  his  haunches.  As  I  again  passed  under  the 
trees  the  fire,  running  like  a  race  horse  in  the  bush, 
had  reached  the  road ;  its  breath  was  hot  in  my  face ; 
tongues  of  quivering  flame  leaped  over  my  head,  L..d 
kindled  the  grass  on  the  hillside  fifty  yards  away." 
Thus  having  prospected  the  ground  he  discovered 


THE  COWBOY  PRESIDENT  303 

means  of  saving  himself,  his  companions,  and  his  camp 
from  the  rushing  flames.    It  is  an  old  artifice  of  the 
frontier  to  start  a  fresh  fire,  burn  a  few  acres,  and 
take  refuge  on  the  charred  ground  while  the  storm  of 
flame  sweeps  by  on  either  hand.    But  this  was  not 
enough.    The  fire  was  burning  the  good  pasture  of 
his  cattle  and,  unless  stayed,  might  sweep  away  not 
only  leagues  of  grass,  but  ricks  and  houses.    "  Before 
dark,"  he  continues,  "  we  drove  to  camp  and  shot  a 
stray  steer,  and  then  split  its  carcass  in  two  length 
ways  with  an  ax.    After  sundown  the  wind  lulled— 
two  of  us  on  horseback  dragging  a  half  carcass  bloody 
side  down,  by  means  of  ropes  leading  from  our  saddle- 
horns  to  the  fore  and  hind  legs,  the  other  two  follow- 
mg  on  foot  with  slickers  and  wet  blankets.    There  was 
a  reddish  glow  in  the  night  air,  and  the  waving  bend- 
mg  Imes  of  flame  showed  in  great  bright  curves  against 
the  hillside  ahead  of  us.    The  flames  stood  upright 
two  or  three  feet  high.    Lengthening  the  ropes,  one 
of  us  spurred  his  horse  across  the  fire  line,  and  then 
wheehng,  we  dragged  the  carcass  along  it,  one  horse- 
man bemg  on  the  burnt  ground,  the  other  on  the  un- 
bumt  grass,  while  the  body  of  the  steer  lay  lengthwise 
across  the  line.    The  weight  and  the  blood  smothered 
the  fire  as  we  twitched  the  carcass  over  the  burning 
grass,  and  the  two  men  following  behind  with  thtir 
blankets  and  slickers  (oilskins)  readily  beat  out  any 
isolated  tufts  of  flame.    Sometimes  there  would  be  a 
slight  puff  of  wind,  and  then  the  man  on  the  grass  side 
of  the  line  ran  the  risk  of  a  scorching. 

"  We  were  blackened  with  smoke,  and  the  taut  ropes 
hurt  our  thighs,  while  at  times  the  plunging  horses 
tned  to  break  or  bolt.    It  was  worse  when  we  came 


Hi 


304 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


to  some  deep  gully  or  ravine  —  we  could  see  nothing, 
and  simply  spurred  our  horses  into  it  anywhere,  tak- 
ing our  chances.  Down  we  would  go,  stumbling, 
sliding  and  pitching,  over  cut  banks  and  into  holes 
and  bushes,  while  the  carcass  bounded  behind,  now 
catching  on  a  stump,  and  now  fetching  loose  with  a 
'  pluck '  that  brought  it  full  on  the  horses'  haunches, 
driving  them  nearly  crazy  with  fright.  By  midnight 
the  half  carcass  was  worn  through,  but  we  had  stifled 
the  fire  in  the  comparatively  level  country  to  the  east- 
wards. Back  we  went  to  camp,  drank  huge  drafts  of 
muddy  water,  devoured  roast  ox-ribs,  and  dragged  c"t 
the  other  half  carcass  to  fight  the  fire  in  the  west. 
There  was  some  little  risk  to  us  who  were  on  horse- 
back, dragging  the  carcass;  we  had  to  feel  our  way 
along  knife-like  ridges  in  the  dark,  one  ahead  and  the 
other  behind  while  the  steer  dangled  over  the  preci- 
pice on  one  side,  and  in  going  down  the  buttes  and 
into  the  canons  only  by  extreme  care  could  we  avoid 
getting  tangled  in  the  ropes  and  rolling  down  in  a 
heap."  So  at  last  the  gallant  fight  was  abandoned, 
and  looking  back  upon  the  fire  which  they  had  failed 
to  conquer :  "  In  the  darkness  it  looked  like  the  rush 
of  a  mighty  army." 

Short  of  cowboys  and  lunatics,  nobody  could  have 
imagined  such  a  feat  of  horsemanship.  Of  that  pat- 
tern is  frontier  adventure  —  daring  gone  mad;  and 
yet  it  is  very  rarely  that  the  frontiersman  finds  the 
day's  work  worth  recording,  or  takes  the  trouble  to 
set  down  on  paper  the  stark  naked  facts  of  an  in- 
cident more  exciting  than  a  shipwreck,  more  danger- 
ous than  a  battle,  and  far  transcending  the  common 
experience  of  men. 


THE  COWBOY  PRESIDENT 


205 


Traveling  alone  in  the  Rockies,  Colonel  Roosevelt 
came  at  sundown  to  a  little  ridge  whence  he 
could  look  into  the  hollow  beyond  — and  there  he  saw 
a  big  grizzly  walking  thoughtfully  home  to  bed.  At 
the  first  shot,  "  he  uttered  a  loud  moaning  grunt  and 
plunged  forward  at  a  heavy  gallop,  while  I  raced 
obliquely  down  the  hill  to  cut  him  oflf.  After  going  a 
few  hundred  feet  he  reached  a  laurel  thicket  .  .  . 
which  he  did  not  leave.  ...  As  I  halted  I  heard  a 
peculiar  savage  whine  from  the  heart  of  the  brush. 
Accordingly  I  began  to  skirt  the  edge  standing  on  tip- 
toe, and  gazing  earnestly  in  to  see  if  I  could  not  get  a 
glimpse  of  his  hide.  When  I  was  at  the  narrowest 
part  of  the  thicket  he  suddenly  left  it  directly  oppo- 
site, and  then  wheeled  and  stood  broadside  to  me  on 
the  hillside  a  little  above.  He  turned  his  head  stiffly 
toward  me,  scarlet  strings  of  froth  hung  from  his 
lips,  his  eyes  burned  like  embers  in  the  gloom.  I  held 
true,  aiming  behind  the  shoulder,  and  my  bullet  shat- 
tered the  point  or  lower  end  of  his  heart,  taking  out 
a  big  nick.  Instantly  the  grtat  bear  turned  with  a 
harsh  roar  of  fury  and  challenge,  blowing  the  bloody 
foam  from  his  mouth,  so  that  I  saw  the  gleam  of  his 
white  fangs;  and  then  he  charged  straight  at  me, 
crashing  and  bounding  through  the  laurel  bushes  so 
that  it  was  hard  to  aim. 

"I  waited  until  he  came  to  a  fallen  tree,  rak- 
ing him  as  he  topped  it  with  a  ball  which  en- 
tered his  chest  and  went  through  the  cavity  of 
his  body,  but  he  neither  swerved  nor  flinched,  and 
at  the  moment  I  did  not  know  that  I  had  struck  him. 
He  came  unsteadily  on,  and  in  another  moment  was 
close  upon  me.    I  fired  for  his  forehead,  but  my  bullet 


9g6 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTXJRE 


went  low,  entering  his  open  mouth,  smashing  his 
lower  jaw,  and  going  into  the  neck.  I  leaped  to  one 
side  almost  as  I  pulled  trigger,  and  through  the  hang- 
ing smoke  the  first  thing  I  saw  was  his  paw  as  he 
made  a  vicious  side  blow  at  me.  The  rest  of  his 
charge  carried  him  past.  As  he  struck  he  lurched  for- 
ward, leaving  a  pool  of  bright  blood  where  his  muzzle 
hit  the  ground;  but  he  recovered  himself  and  made 
two  or  three  jumps  onward,  while  I  hurriedly 
jammed  a  couple  of  cartridges  into  the  magazine,  my 
rifle  only  holding  four,  all  of  which  I  had  fired.  Then 
he  tried  to  pull  up,  but  as  he  did  so  his  muscles 
seemed  to  give  way,  his  head  drooped,  and  he  rolled 
over  —  each  of  my  first  three  bullets  had  inflicted  a 
mortal  wound." 

This  man  who  had  fought  grizzly  bears  came 
rather  as  a  surprise  among  the  politicians  in  silk  hats 
who  run  the  United  Sutes.  He  had  all  the  gentry 
at  his  back  because  he  is  the  first  man  of  unquestioned 
birth  and  breeding  who  has  entered  the  political  bear- 
pit  since  the  country  squires  who  followed  George 
Washington.  He  had  all  the  army  at  his  back  because 
he  had  charged  the  heights  at  Santiago  de  Cuba  with 
conspicuous  valor  't  the  head  of  his  own  regiment  of 
cowboys.  He  hat  ihe  navy  at  his  back  because  as 
secretary  for  the  navy  he  had  successfully  governed 
the  fleet.  But  he  was  no  politician  when  he  came  for- 
ward to  claim  the  presidency  of  the  United  States. 
Seeing  that  he  could  not  be  ignored  the  wire-puller 
set  a  trap  for  this  innocent  and  gave  him  the  place  of 
vice-president.  The  vice-president  has  little  to  do, 
can  only  succeed  to  the  throne  in  the  event  of  the 
president's  death,  and  is,  after  a  brief  term,  barred 


THE  COWBOY  PRESIDENT  xtj 

for    life    from    any    further    progress.    "Teddy" 
walked  into  the  trap  and  sat  down. 

But  when  President  McKinley  was  murdered  the 
politicians  found  that  they  had  made  a  most  surpri»- 
ing  and  gigantic  blunder.  By  their  own  act  the  cow- 
boy bear  tighter  must  succeed  to  the  vacant  seat  as 
chief  magistrate  of  the  republic.  President  Roose- 
velt happened  to  be  away  at  the  time,  hunting  bears 
in  the  Adirondack  wilderness,  and  there  began  a 
frantic  search  of  mountain  peaks  and  forest  solitudes 
for  the  missing  ruler  of  seventy  million  people. 
\yhen  he  was  found,  and  had  paid  the  last  honors  to 
his  dead  friend,  William  McKinley,  he  was  obliged 
to  proceed  to  Washington,  and  there  take  the  oaths. 
His  women  folk  had  a  terrible  time  before  they  could 
persuade  him  to  wear  the  silk  hat  and  frock  coat 
which  there  serve  in  lieu  of  coronation  robes,  but  he 
consented  even  to  that  for  the  sake  of  the  gorgeous 
time  he  was  to  have  with  the  politicians  afterward. 


XXIX 

A.D.  igos 
THE  NORTHWEST  PASSAGE 

ONCE  upon  a  time  the  Foul  Fiend  wanted  a  death- 
trap that  would  pick  out  all  the  bravest  men 
and  destroy  them,  so  he  invented  the  Northwest 
Passage. 

So  when  Europe  needed  a  short  route  to  China 
round  the  north  end  of  the  Americas  our  seamen  set 
out  to  find  a  channel,  and  even  when  they  knew  that 
any  route  must  lie  through  the  high  Arctic,  still  they 
were  not  going  to  be  beaten.  Our  white  men  rule  the 
world  because  we  refuse  to  be  beaten. 

The  seamen  died  of  scurvy,  and  it  was  two  hundred 
years  before  they  found  out  how  to  stay  alive  on 
salted  food,  by  drinking  lime  juice.  Safe  from 
scurvy,  they  reached  the  gate  of  the  passage  at  Lan- 
caster Sound,  but  there  the  winter  caught  them,  so 
that  their  ships  were  squashed  in  driving  ice,  and  the 
men  died  of  cold  and  hunger.  Then  the  explorers  got 
ships  too  strong  to  be  crushed;  they  copied  the  dress 
of  the  Eskimo  to  keep  them  warm ;  and  they  carried 
food  enough  to  last  for  years.  Deeper  and  deeper 
they  forced  their  way  into  the  Arctic,  but  now  they 
neared  the  magnetic  pole  where  the  compass  is  use- 
m8 


THE  NORTHWEST  PASSAGE 


209 


less,  in  belts  of  drifting  fog  darker  tlian  midnight. 
Still  they  dared  to  go  on,  but  the  inner  channels  of 
the  Arctic  were  found  to  be  frozen  until  the  autumn 
gales  broke  up  the  ice-fields,  leaving  barely  six  weeks 
for  navigation  before  the  winter  frosts.  At  that  rate 
the  tbree-thousand-mile  passage  would  take  three 
years.  Besides,  the  ship  must  carry  a  deck  load  of 
sledge  dogs  with  their  food,  so  that  the  men  might 
escape  overland  in  case  they  were  cast  away.  Only  a 
big  ship  could  carry  the  supplies,  but  once  again  the 
seamen  dared  to  try.  And  now  came  the  last  test  to 
break  men's  hearts  —  the  sea  lane  proved  to  be  so  foul 
with  shoals  and  rocks  that  no  large  vessel  could  possi- 
bly squeeze  through.  At  last,  after  three  hundred 
years,  the  British  seamen  had  to  own  defeat.  Our 
explorers  had  mapped  the  entire  route,  but  no  ship 
could  make  the  passage  because  it  was  impossible  to 
raise  money  for  the  venture. 

Why  should  we  want  to  get  through  this  useless 
channel?  Because  it  was  the  test  for  perfect  man- 
hood free  from  all  care  for  money,  utterly  unselfish, 
of  the  highest  intellect,  patience,  endurance  and  the 
last  possible  extremity  of  valor. 

And  where  the  English  failed  a  Norseman,  Norden- 
skjold  made  the  Northeast  passage  round  the  coast 
of  Asia.  Still  nobody  dared  to  broach  the  North- 
west passage  round  America,  until  a  young  Norse 
seaman  solved  the  riddle.  Where  no  ship  could  cross 
the  shoals  it  might  be  possible  with  a  fishing  boat 
drawing  only  six  feet  of  water.  But  she  could  not 
carry  five  years'  supplies  for  men  and  dogs.  Science 
came  to  the  rescue  with  foods  that  would  pack  into  a 
tenth  part  of  their  proper  bulk,  and  as  to  the  dog  food, 


210  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENVURE 

one  might  risk  a  deck  load  big  as  a  haystack,  to  be 
thrown  off  if  the  weather  got  too  heavy.  Still,  how 
could  a  fishing  boat  carry  twenty  men  for  the  different 
expert  jobs?  Seven  men  might  be  discovered  each  an 
expert  in  three  or  four  different  trades;  the  captain 
serving  as  the  astronomer  and  doctor,  the  cook  as  a 
naturalist  and  seaman.  So  Roald  Amundsen  got 
Doctor  Nansen's  help,  and  that  great  explorer  was 
backed  by  the  king.  Help, came  from  all  parts  of 
Scandinavia,  and  a  little  from  Great  Britain. 

The  Gjoa  was  a  forty-seven  ton  herri:ig  boat  with 
a  thirteen  horse-power  motor  for  ship's  pet,  loaded 
with  five  years'  stores  for  a  crew  of  seven  men,  who 
off  duty  were  comrades  as  in  a  yachting  cruise. 
Ill  1903  she  sailed  from  Christiania  and  spent  July 
climbing  the  north  current  in  full  view  of 
the  Greenland  coast,  the  Arctic  wonderland.  At 
Godhaven  she  picked  up  stores,  bidding  farewell  to 
civilization,  passed  Upemivik  the  last  village,  and  Tas- 
sinssak,  the  last  house  on  earth,  then  entered  Melville 
Bay  with  its  three-hundred-mile  frontage  of  glacier, 
the  most  dangerous  place  in  the  Arctic.  Beyond,  near 
Cape  York,  she  found  a  deck  load  of  stores  left  for 
her  by  one  of  the  Dundee  whalers.  There  the  people 
met  the  last  white  men,  three  Danish  explorers  whose 
leader,  Mylius  Erichsen,  was  making  his  way  to  deatli 
on  the  north  coast  of  Greenland.  So,  like  a  barge 
with  a  hayrick,  the  overload  Joy  crossed  from  the 
Greenland  coast  to  Lancaster  Sound,  the  gate  of  the 
Northwest  passage,  whose  gatepost  is  Beechey 
Island,  sacred  to  the  memory  of  Sir  John  Franklin, 
and  the  dead  of  the  Franklin  search.  The  Joy  found 
some  sole  leather  better  than  her  own,  a  heap  of  use- 


THE  NORTHWEST  PASSAGE  211 

ful  coal  and  an  anvil,  among  the  litter  of  old  ex- 
peditions; made  the  graves  tidy;  left  a  message  at 
Franklin's  monument,  and  went  on.  For  three  hun- 
dred years  the  channels  ahead  were  known  to  have 
been  blocked ;  only  by  a  miracle  of  good  fortune  could 
they  be  free  from  ice;  and  this  miracle  happened,  for 
the  way  was  clear. 

"  I  was  sitting,"  writes  Amundsen  on  August  thir- 
ty-first, "entc'^ng  the  day's  events  in  my  journal, 
when  I  heard  a  shriek  — a  terrific  shriek,  which 
thrilled  me  to  the  very  marrow?  It  takes  something 
to  make  a  Norseman  shriek,  but  a  mighty  flame  with 
thick  suffocating  smoke  was  leaping  up  from  the  en- 
gine room  skylight.  There  the  tanks  held  two  thou- 
sand two  hundred  gallons  of  petroleum,  and  close  be- 
side them  a  pile  of  soaked  cotton  waste  had  burst 
with  a  loud  explosion.  If  the  tanks  got  heated  the 
ship  would  be  blown  into  chips,  but  after  a  hard  fight 
the  fire  was  got  under.  All  hands  owed  their  livea 
to  their  fine  discipline." 

A  few  days  later  the  Joy  grounded  in  a  labyrinth  of 
shoals,  and  was  caught  aground  by  a  storm  which 
lifted  and  bumped  her  until  the  false  keel  was  torn 
off.  The  whole  of  the  deck  load  had  to  be  thrown 
overboard.  The  only  hope  was  to  sail  over  the  rocks, 
and  with  all  her  canvas  set  she  charged,  smashing 
from  rock  to  rock  until  she  reached  the  farther  edge 
of  the  reef  which  was  nearly  dry.  "The  spray  and 
sleet  were  washing  over  the  vessel,  the  mast  trembled, 
and  the  GjoiiL  seemed  to  pull  herself  together  for  a 
last  final  leap.  She  was  lifted  up  and  flung  bodily 
on    the    bare    rocks,    bump,    bump,    with    terrific 


212 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


force.  ...  In  my  distress  I  sent  up  (I  honestly  con- 
fess it)  an  ardent  prayer  to  the  Almighty.  Yet  an- 
other bump  worse  than  ever,  then  one  more,  and  we 
slid  off." 

The  shock  had  lifted  the  rudder  so  that  it  rested 
with  the  pintles  on  the  mountings,  and  she  would  not 
steer ;  then  somehow  the  pins  dropped  back  into  their 
sockets,  the  steersmen  regained  control  and  the  Joy 
was  saved,  after  a  journey  across  dry  rocks  which 
ought  to  have  smashed  anyi  ship  afloat.  She  did  not 
even  leak. 

Near  the  south  end  of  King  William's  Land  a 
pocket  harbor  was  found,  and  named  Joy  Haven. 
There  the  stores  were  landed,  cabins  were  built,  the 
ship  turned  into  a  winter  house,  and  the  crew  became 
men  of  science.  For  two  years  they  were  haro  at 
work  studying  the  magnetism  of  the  earth  beside  the 
Magnetic  Pole.  They  collected  fossils  and  natural 
history  specimens,  surveyed  the  district,  studied  the 
heavens  and  the  weather,  hunted  reindeer  for  their 
meat  and  clothing,  fished,  and  made  friends  with  the 
scented,  brave  and  merry  Eskimos.  During  the  first 
winter  the  thermometer  dropped  to  seventy-nine  de- 
grees below  zero,  which  is  pretty  near  the  world  record 
for  cold,  but  as  long  as  one  is  well  fed,  with  bowels  in 
working  order,  and  has  Eskimo  clothes  to  wear,  the 
temperature  feels  much  the  same  after  forty  below 
zero.  Below  that  point  the  wind  fails  to  a  breath- 
less calm,  the  keen  dry  air  is  refreshing  as  champagne, 
and  one  can  keep  up  a  dog-trot  for  miles  without  be- 
ing winded.  It  is  not  the  winter  night  that  people 
dread,  but  the  summer  day  with  its  horrible  torment 
of  mosquitoes.    Then  there  is  in  spring  and  autumn, 


THE  NORTHWEST  PASSAGE 


213 


a  hot  misty  glare  upon  the  snow-fields  which  causes 
blindness  with  a  deal  of  pain.  The  Arctic  has  its 
drawbacks,  but  one  remembers  afterward  the  fields 
of  flowers,  the  unearthly  beauty  of  the  northern 
lights,  the  teeming  game,  and  those  long  summer 
nights  when  the  sun  is  low,  filling  the  whole  sky  with 
sunset  colors. 

The  greatest  event  of  the  first  year  was  the  finding 
of  an  Eskimo  hunter  to  carry  letters,  who  came  back 
in  the  second  summer,  having  found  in  Hudson's  Bay 
an  exploring  vessel  of  the  Royal  Northwest  Mounted 
Police  of  Canada.  Major  Moody,  also  the  captain 
of  the  Arctic,  and  the  Master  of  an  American  whaler, 
sent  their  greetings,  news  of  the  outer  world,  some 
useful  charts,  and  a  present  of  husky  dogs. 

The  second  summer  was  over.  The  weather  had 
begun  to  turn  cold  before  a  northerly  gale  smashed 
the  ice,  and  sea  lanes  opened  along  the  Northwest 
passage.  On  August  thirteenth  the  Joy  left  her 
anchorage,  under  sail  and  steam,  to  pick  her  way 
without  compass  through  blinding  fog,  charging  and 
butting  through  fields  of  ice,  dodging  zigzag  through 
shoals,  or  squeezing  between  ice-fields  and  the  shore. 
There  was  no  sleep  for  anybody  during  the  first  three 
nights,  but  racking  anxiety  and  tearing  overstrain 
until  they  reached  known  waters,  a  channel  charted 
by  the  old  explorers.  They  met  an  American  whaler, 
and  afterward  had  clear  open  water  as  far  as  the 
mouths  of  the  Mackenzie  River.  A  few  miles  beyond 
that  the  ice  closed  in  from  the  north  and  piled  up- 
shore  so  that  the  passage  was  blocked  and  once  more 
the  Joy  went  into  winter  quarters.  But  not  alone. 
Ladies  must  have  corsets  ribbed  with  whalebone  from 


:i 


214 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


the  bowhead  whale.  Each  whale  head  is  worth  two 
thousand  pounds,  so  a  fleet  of  American  whalers  goes 
hunting  in  the  Arctic.  Their  only  port  of  refuge  is 
Herschel  Island  oflf  the  Canadian  coast,  so  there  is  an 
outpost  of  the  Northwest  Mounted  Police,  a  mission 
station  and  a  village  of  Eskimos. 

The  Joy  came  to  anchor  thirty-six  miles  to  the 
east  of  Herschel  Island,  beside  a  stranded  ship  in 
charge  of  her  Norse  mate,  and  daily  came  passengers 
to  and  fro  on  the  Fort  Macpherson  trail.  From  that 
post  runs  a  dog-train  service  lof  mails  connecting  the 
forts  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  all  the  way  up  the 
Mackenzie  Valley  to  Edmonton  on  the  railway  within 
two  thousand  miles.  The  crew  of  the  Joy  had  com- 
pany news,  letters  from  home,  and  Captain  Amund- 
sen went  by  dc^-train  to  the  mining  camps  on  the 
Yukon  where  at  Eagle  City  he  sent  telegrams. 

At  last  in  the  summer  of  1906  the  Joy  sailed  on  tiie 
final  run  of  her  great  voyage,  but  her  crew  of  seven 
was  now  reduced  to  six,  and  at  parting  she  dipped  her 
colors  to  the  cross  on  a  lone  grave.  The  ice  barred 
her  passage,  but  she  charged,  smashing  her  engines, 
and  charged  again,  losing  her  peak  which  left  the 
mainsail  useless.  So  she  won  past  Cape  Prince  of 
Wales,  completing  the  Northwest  passage,  and  en- 
tering Bering  Sea  called  at  Cape  Nome  for  repairs. 
There  a  thousand  American  gold  miners  welcomed  the 
sons  of  the  vikings  with  an  uproarious  triumph,  and 
greeted  Captain  Amundsen  with  the  Norse  natkmal 
antfaem. 


XXX- 

A.D.  1588 

JOHN  HAWKINS 

■]\/r ASTER  JOHN  HAWKINS,  mariner,  was  a 
•»^»->-  trader's  son,  familiar  from  childhood  with  the 
Guinea  coast  of  Africa.  Worshipful  merchants  of 
London  trusted  him  with  three  ridiculously  small 
ships,  the  size  of  our  fishing  smacks,  but  manned  by 
a  hundred  men.  With  these,  in  1562  —  the  "  spacious 
times  "  of  great  Elizabeth  — he  swooped  down  on  the 
West  African  coast,  and  horribly  scared  were  his 
people  when  they  saw  the  crocodiles.  The  nature  of 
this  animal  "  is  ever  when  he  would  have  his  prey,  to 
sob  and  cry  like  a  Christian  bodie,  to  provoke  them  to 
come  to  him,  and  then  he  snatcheth  at  them."  In 
spite  of  the  reptiles.  Master  Hawkins  "got  into  his 
possession,  partly  by  the  sword,  and  partiy  by  other 
means."  three  hundred  wretched  negroes. 

The  king  of  Spain  had  a  law  that  no  Protestant 
heretic  might  trade  with  his  Spanish  colonies  of  the 
West  Indies,  so  Master  Hawkins,  by  way  of  spitting 
in  his  majesty's  eye,  went  straight  to  Hispaniola, 
where  he  exchanged  his  slaves  with  the  settlers  for  a 
shipload  of  hides,  ginger,  sugar  and  pearls. 

On  his  second  voyage  Master  Hawkins  attempted 
to  enslave  a  whole  city,  hard  by  Sierra  Leone,  but  the 
Almighty,  "  who  worketh  all  things  for  the  best,  would 
ais 


2l6 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


not  have  it  so,  and  by  Him  we  escaped  without 
danger,  His  name  be  prsised  for  it."  Hawkins  had 
nearly  been  captured  by  the  negroes,  and  was  com- 
pelled to  make  his  pious  raids  elsewhere.  Moreover, 
when  he  came  with  a  fleet  loMed  wjfh  slaves  to 
Venezuela,  the  Spanish  merchants  were  scared  to 
trade  with  him.  Of  course,  for  the  sake  of  his 
negroes,  he  had  to  get  them  landed  somehow,  so  he 
went  ashore,  "  having  in  his  greate  boate  two  falcons 
of  brasse,  and  in  the  other  boates  double  bases  in  their 
noses."  Such  artillery  backed  by  a  hundred  men  in 
plate  armor,  convinced  the  Spaniards  that  it  would 
be  wise  to  trade. 

On  his  third  voyage.  Master  Hawkins  found  the 
Spaniards  his  friends  along  the  Spanish  main,  but  the 
weather,  a  deadly  enemy,  drove  him  for  refuge  and 
repair  to  San  Juan  d'Ullua,  the  port  of  Mexico. 
Here  was  an  islet,  the  only  shelter  on  that  coast  from 
the  northerly  gales.  He  sent  a  letter  to  the  capital 
for  leave  to  hold  that  islet  with  man  and  guns  while 
he  bought  provisions  and  repaired  his  ships.  But  as 
it  happened,  a  new  viceroy  came  with  a  fleet  of 
thirteen  great  ships  to  claim  that  narrow  anchorage, 
and  Hawkins  must  let  them  in  or  fight.  "On  the 
faith  of  a  viceroy  "  Don  Martin  de  Henriquez  pledged 
his  honor  before  Hawkins  let  him  in,  then  set  his 
ships  close  aboard  those  of  England,  trained  guns  to 
bear  upon  them,  secretly  filled  them  with  troops  hid 
below  hatches,  and  when  his  treason  was  found  out, 
sounded  a  trumpet,  the  signal  for  attack.  The  Eng- 
lishmen on  the  isle  were  massacred  except  three,  the 
queen's  ship  Jestu,  of  Lubeck,  was  so  sorely  hurt  that 
she  had  to  be  abandoned,  and  only  two  small  barks, 


JOHN  HAWKINS  217 

the  Minion  and  the  Judith,  escaped  to   sea     The 
Spaniards  lost  four  galleons  in  that  battle 

As  to  the  English,  they  were  in  great  peril,  and 
parted  by  a  storm.  The  Judith  fared  best,  com- 
manded by  a  man  from  before  the  mast,  one  Francis 
Drake,  who  brought  the  news  to  England  that  Haw- 
kins had  more  than  two  hundred  people  crowded  upon 
the  Minwn  without  food  or  water.  "With  manr 
sorrowful  hearts,"  says  Hawkins,  "we  wandered  in 
an  unknown  sea  by  the  span  of  fourteen  dayes,  till 
hunger  forced  us  to  seeke  the  lande,  for  birdes  were 
thought  very  goode  meate,  rattes,  cattes,  mise  and 
dogges. 

It  was  then  that  one  hundred  fou.teen  men  volun- 
teered to  go  ashore  and  the  ship  continued  a  very 
pamful  voyage.  ' 

These  men  were  landed  on  the  coast  of  Mexico 
unarmed,  to  be  stripped  naked  presently  by  r^' 
Indians,  and  by  the  Spaniards  marched  as  slaves  to 

thL?..  ,^*"''°'  *•"=''  ^^"=^  '""K  imprisonment 
Aose  left  al.ve  were  sold.  The  Spanish  gentlemen 
the  clergy  and  the  monks  were  kind  to  thesf  servTm"; 
who  eanied  posjtions  of  trust  on  mines  and  ranches 

«^ough  st.ll  rated  as  slaves.  Then  came  the  "Hoi? 
He ihsh  Inqu.s.t.on  "  to  inquire  into  the  safety  of  their 
rS    ^''""=^«,  ^Prisoned,  nearly  all  were  tortured 

hshes'  T'  "^u  '°'^''  •"  P"''"'^  -'th  five  hund  S 
lashes.  Even  the  ten  gentlemen  landed  by  HawkinI 
as  hostages  for  his  good  faith  shared  the  fate  of  he 
shipwrecked  mariners  who.  some  in  Mexico  and  some 
m  Spam,  were  in  the  end  condemned  to  the  S^s 
And  those  who  kept  the  faith  were  ted'  j^e 


ai6 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


From  that  tunc  onward,  whatever  treaties  there  might 
be  in  Europe,  there  was  never  a  moment's  peace  for 
the  Spanish  Indies.  All  honest  Englishmen  were  at 
war  with  Spain  witil  the  Inquisition  was  stamped  out, 
and  the  British  liberators  had  helped  to  drive  the 
Spaniards  ttom  the  last  acre  of  their  American 
empire. 

When  Hawkins  returned  to  England,  Maty,  Queen 
of  Scots,  was  there  a  prisoner.  The  sailor  went  to 
Elizabeth's  minister.  Lord  Burleigh,  and  proposed  a 
plot.  By  this  plot  he  entereil  into  a  treaty  with  the 
queen  of  Scots  to  set  her  on  the  throne.  He  was  to 
join  the  Duke  of  Alva  for  the  invasion  and  overthrow 
of  England.  So  pleased  was  the  Spanish  king  that 
he  paid  compensation  to  Hawkins  for  his  losses  at  San 
Juan  d'Ullua  and  restored  to  freedom  such  of  the 
English  prisoners  as  could  be  discovered.  Then  Haw- 
kins turned  loyal  again,  and  Queen  Elizabeth  knighted 
him  for  fooling  her  enemies. 


\ 


XXXI 


A.  D.  1573 
FRANCIS  DRAKE 

THE  Judith  had  escaped  from  San  Juan  d'Ullua 
and  her  master.  Francis  Drake,  of  Devon,  was 
now  a  bitter  vengeful  adversary,  from  that  time  on- 
ward living  to  be  the  scourge  of  Spain.  Four  years  he 
raided,  plundered,  burned  along  the  Spanish  main,  until 
the  name  Drake  was  changed  to  Dragon  in  the 
language  of  the  dons. 

Then  in  1573  he  sailed  from  Plymouth  with  five 
little  ships  to  carry  fire  and  sword  into  the  South  Seas, 
where  the  flag  of  England  had  never  been  before. 
When  he  had  captured  some  ships  near  the  Cape  de 
Verde  Islands,  he  was  fifty-four  days  in  unknown 
waters  before  he  sighted  the  Brazils,  then  after  a  long 
time  came  to  Magellan's  Straits,  where  he  put  in  to 
refresh  his  men.  One  of  the  captains  had  been  un- 
faithful and  was  now  tried  by  a  court-martial,  which 
found  him  guilty  of  mutiny  and  treason  against  the 
admiral.  Drake  offered  him  a  ship  to  return  to  Eng- 
land and  throw  himself  on  the  queen's  mercy,  or 
he  might  land  and  take  his  chance  among  the  savages, 
or  he  could  have  his  death,  and  carry  his  case  to  the 
Ahnighty.  The  prisoner  would  not  rob  the  expedi- 
tion of  a  ship,  nor  would  he  consort  with  the  degraded 
tribes  of  that  wild  Land  of  Fire,  but  asked  that  he 
might  die  at  the  hands  of  his  countrymen  because  of 
319 


m 


aao  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

ti«e  wrong  he  had  done  them.    So  the  date  was  ,et  for 
J«  execufon  when  all  the  officer,  received "fhS 
communion,  the  prisoner  kneeling  beside  the  adn,i™i 
After  that  they  dined  together  L  the  L  t  ti^t  S 
when  they  had  risen  from  table,  shook  hand  Tt':^^ 

£    F  T^"  ''"  '''''"'•  '*'«  °*ers  to  their  voya« 
May  England  ever  breed  such  gentlemen  I        ^  *^- 

«Sd  2Ti"^.''"L^''^^  «°*  ^'«''  "^  'he  straits  and 
all  the  ships.    Drake  went  on  alone,  and  on  the  coast 
ot  a  galleon  at  Santiago,  laden  with  gold  from  Peru 
jJrakes  feather  on  the  South  Seas,  so  that  when  h. 
t7Zi:;X  '''"''^°  ''-^  -e'e^uanrsi'L^" 
The   galleon's   crew   were   ashore    save    for   six 
Spaniards  and  three  negroes,  so  bored  with  [he^ 
selves  that  they  welcomed  the  visitors  by  Satnga 
drum  and  setting  out  ailian  wine.    But  wh^„  Ma^ 
ter  Moon  arrived  on  board  with  a  boat's  crrwL^!; 
a^t^him  outrageously  with  a  la^  swo^' ^y    g 

sHS^^rsr^taS" 

deal  of  g-ood  cheer  besides,  Master  Fletcher  the  nt 


<  i 


Sir  Fhaxcis  Drake 


FRANCIS  DRAKE  aai 

ing  Spaniard  wai  found  on  the  beach  with  thirteen 
bars  of  lilver.  "  We  took  the  silver  and  left  the 
man."  Another  place  yielded  a  pr.c  !nin  of  llamas, 
the  local  beast  of  burden,  with  leaii  er  \.  aUcts  .outlin- 
ing eight  hundred  pounds'  weiv;ni  of  .^ii.-r,  'ihr. ,; 
small  barks  were  searched  ni.xf.  one  ci  tH»ir  lei;,- 
laden  with  silver;  then  twelv.,  /;ip-i  nt  aich.  ih 

were  cut  adrift;  and  a  bar;  v  itli  v'.gUt,  pjunJs' 
weight  of  gold,  and  a  golden  crucifix  st<  vith  emer- 
alds. But  best  of  alt  was  the  galkoi-.  c"'^  '^fiiego, 
overtaken  at  sea,  and  disabled  at  the  t'.,- 1  shot,  which 
brought  down  her  mizzenmast.  Her  cargo  consisted 
of  "great  riches,  as  jewels  and  precious  stones,  thir- 
teen chests  full  of  royals  of  plate,  four  score  pounds 
weight  of  golde,  and  six  and  twentie  tunne  of  silver." 
The  pilot  being  the  possessor  of  two  nice  silver  cups, 
had  to  give  one  to  Master  Drake,  and  the  other  to  the 
steward,  "because  hee  could  not  otherwise  chuse." 
Every  town,  every  ship  was  rifled  along  that  coast. 
There  was  neither  fighting  nor  killing,  but  much 
politeness,  until  at  last  the  ship  had  a  full  cargo 
of  silver,  gold  and  gems,  with  which  she  reached 
England,  having  made  a  voyage  round  the  world. 
When^  Queen  Elizabeth  dined  in  state  on  board 
Drake's  ship  at  Greenwich,  she  struck  him  with 
a  sword  and  dubbed  him  knight.  Of  course  he  must 
have  armorial  bearings  now,  but  when  he  adopted  the 
three  wiverns  —  black  fowl  of  sorts  — of  the  Drake 
family,  there  were  angry  protests  against  his  insolence. 
So  the  queen  made  him  a  coat-of-arms,  a  terrestrial 
^obe,  and  a  ship  thereon  led  with  a  string  by  a  hand 
that  reached  out  of  a  cloud,  and  in  the  rigging  of  the 
said  ship,  a  wivem  hanged  by  the  neck. 


222  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

It  was  Parson  Fletcher  who  wrote  the  story  of  that 
illustrious  voyage,  but  he  does  not  say  how  he  himself 
fell  afterward  from  grace,  being  solemnly  consigned 
by  Drake  to  the  "  devil  and  all  his  angells,"  threatened 
with  a  hanging  at  the  yard-arm,  and  made  to  bear  a 
posy  on  his  breast  with  these  frank  words,  "  Francis 
Fletcher,  ye  falsest  knave  that  liveth." 

Drake  always  kept  his  chaplain,  and  dined  "  alone 
with  musick,"  did  all  his  public  actions  with  large 
piety  and  gallant  courtesy,  while  he  led  English  fleets 
on  insolent  piracies  against  the  Spaniards. 

From  his  next  voyage  he  returned  leaving  the 
Indies  in  flames,  loaded  with  plunder,  and  smoking 
the  new  herb  tobacco  to  the  amazement  of  his  country- 
men. 

Philip  II  was  preparing  a  vast  a.v.iada  against  Eng- 
land, when  Drake  appeared  with  thirty  sail  on  the 
Spanish  coast,  destroyed  a  hundred  ships,  swept  like  a 
hurricane  from  port  to  port,  took  a  galleon  laden  with 
treasure  off  the  western  islands,  and  returned  to  Ply- 
mouth with  his  enormous  plunder. 

Next  year  Drake  was  vice-admiral  to  Lord  Howard 
in  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  armada. 

In  1589  he  led  a  fleet  to  deliver  Portugal  from  the 
Spaniards,  wherein  he  failed. 

Then  came  his  last  voyage  in  company  with  his  first 
commander.  Sir  John  Hawkins.  Once  more  the 
West  Indies  felt  the  awful  weight  of  his  arm,  but 
now  there  were  varying  fortunes  of  defeat,  of  re- 
prisals, and  at  the  end,  pestilence,  which  struck  the 
fleet  at  Nombre  de  Dios,  and  felled  this  mighty  sea- 
man. His  body  was  committed  to  the  sea,  his 
memory  to  the  hearts  of  all  brave  men. 


XXXII 

A.  D.  1587 

THE  FOUR  ARMADAS 

H^Jil  '**  ^*  ?"  *  ''^"-  We  have  come  to  the 
**  chmax  of  the  great  century,  the  age  of  the 
Rena>ss.„ce.  when  Europe  was'^born  %.to  tf 
the  Reformation,  when  the  Protestants  of  tfe  Baltfc 
Wh  the  Catholics  of  the  Mediterr Jarfoflhe 
right  to  worship  in  freedom;  and  of  the  sea  kin« 
who  Ia.d  the  foundations  of  our  modern  woHd  ^ 
Islam  l»d  reached  her  fullest  flood  of  glory  with  the  ' 
fleets  of  Barbarossa.  the  armies  of  theSn  Sul^T 

bTforetrlh'Lt" '"''  "'  ^'^^  ^e^a^S^i'-  i 
Detore  her  ebb  set  downward  into  ruin 

Portugal  and  Spain,  under  one  crown    shared  th. 

Here   opened   broad   fields  of  adventure     Ther, 
men  of  all  these  nafons  «  slaves  in  Turkish  pl^. 


m.m'^  w 


324  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

or  in  Spanish  mines;  everywhere  sea  fights,  ship- 
wrecks 7ails  of  lost  men  wandering  m  unknown 
Tandt  -tters  of  desert  islands,  and  wrecked  treasures 
with  all  the  usual  routine  of  Pl-^<=.  Pf  »^"=?.  ="''' 
famine,  of  battle,  of  murder  and  of  ''"dden  death 

In  all  this  ungle  we  must  take  one  thread,  with 
most  to  learn,  I  think,  from  a  Hollander,  Mynheer,  J. 
r  an  Li"schoten,  who  was  clerk  to  the  Portuguese 
archbishop  of  the  Indies  and  afterward  m  busmess 
at  Terceira  in  the  Azores,, where  he  wrote  a  famous 
book  on  pilotage.  He  tells  us  about  the  ^-^^^ 
of  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  m  terms  of  w.thenng 
contempt  as  a  mixture  of  incompetence  and  coward.ce 
enough  to  explain  the   downfall  and  rum  of  their 

'ThT  worst  ships,  he  says,  which  cleaml  from 
Cochin  were  worth,  with  their  cargo,  one  million,  eight 
hundred  thousand  pounds  of  our  modern  money^ 
Not  content  with  that,  the  swindlers  m  charge  re- 
moved the  ballast  to  make  room  for  more  cinnamon, 
whereby  the  Arreliquias  capsized  and  sank 

The  San  logo,  having  her  bottom  ripped  out  by  a 
coral  reef,  her  admiral,  pilot,  master  and  a  dozen 
others  entered  into  a  boat,  keeping  it  w-th  ".ked 
rapiers  until  they  got  clear,  and  deserted.  Left  with- 
out any  officers,  the  people  on  Oie  wreck  were  ad^ 
dressed  by  an  Italian  seaman  who  cried.  Why  are 
we  thus  abashed?'  So  ninety  valiant  manners  took 
The  longboat  and  cleared,  hacking  off  the  fingers 
hands  and  arms  of  the  drowning  women  who  held  on 

to  her  gunwale.  .    ,.  ,  -j    *   i,. 

As  to  the  pilot  who  caused  this  little  acc.den     he 

afterward  had  charge  of  the  San  Thomdi     full  of 


THE  FOUR  ARMADAS  22s 

people,  and  most  of  the  gentility  of  India,"  and  lost 
with  all  hands. 

But  if  the  seamanship  of  the  Portuguese  made  it  a 
miracle  if  they  escaped  destruction,  that  of  the 
Spaniards  was  on  a  much  larger  scale.  Where  Portu- 
gal lost  a  ship  Spain  bungled  away  a  fleet,  and  never 
was  incompetence  more  frightfully  punished  than  in 
the  doom  of  the  four  armadas. 

Philip  II  wa*  busy  converting  Protestant  Holland, 
^  m  i^  he  resolved  to  send  a  Catholic  mission  to 
England  also,  bat  wbite  he  was  preparing  the  first 
armada  Drake  came  and  burned  his  hundred  ships 
under  the  guns  of  Cadiz. 

A  year  later  the  secwid,  Ihe  great  armada,  was 
ready,  one  hundred  thirty  ships  in  line  of  battle  which 
was  to  embark  the  army  in  Holland,  and  invade  Eng- 
land with  a  field  force  of  fifty-three  thousand  men, 
the  finest  troops  in  Europe. 

Were  the  British  fleet  of  to-day  to  attack  the  Dutch 
the  situation  would  be  much  the  same.  It  was  a  com- 
fort to  the  English  that  they  had  given  most  ample 
provocation  and  to  spare,  but  still  they  felt  it  was  ver.- 
awkward.  They  had  five  million  people,  only  the 
nmth  part  of  their  present  strength;  no  battle-ships, 
and  only  thirty  cruisers.  The  merchant  service 
rallied  a  hundred  vessels,  the  size  of  the  fishing 
smacks,  the  Flemings  lent  forty,  and  nobody  in  Ene- 
land  dared  to  hope. 

To  do  Spain  justice  she  made  plenty  of  noise 
giving  ample  warning.  Her  fleet  was  made  invincible 
by  the  pope's  blessing,  the  sacred  banners  and  the 
holy  relrcs,  while  for  England's  spiritual  comfort  there 
was  a  vicar  of  the  inquisition  with  his  racks  and  thumb- 


I 


^  ^*f^tc:,*" 


226 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


screws.  Only  the  minor  details  were  overlooked: 
that  the  cordage  was  rotten,  the  powder  damp,  the 
wine  sour,  the  water  putrid,  the  biscuits  and  the  beef 
a  mass  of  maggots,  while  the  ship's  drainage  into  the 
ballast  turned  every  galleon  into  a  floating  pest-house. 
The  admiral  was  a  fool,  the  captains  were  land- 
lubbers, the  ships  would  not  steer,  and  the  guns  could 
not  be  fought.  The  soldiers,  navigators,  boatswains 
and  quartermasters  were  alike  too  proud  to  help  the 
short-handed,  overworked  seamen,  while  two  thou- 
sand of  the  people  were  galley  slaves  waiting  to  turn 
on  their  masters.  Worst  of  all,  this  sacred,  fantastic, 
doomed  armada  was  to  attack  from  Holland,  without 
pilotage  to  turn  our  terrific  fortifications  of  shoals 
and  quicksands. 

Small  were  our  ships  and  woefully  short  of  powder, 
but  they  served  the  wicked  valiant  queen  who 
pawned  her  soul  for  England.  Her  admiral  was 
Lord  Howard  the  Catholic,  whose  squadron  leaders 
were  Drake,  Hawkins  and  Frobiaher.  The  leaders 
were  practical  seamen  who  led,  not  drove,  the  Eng- 
lish. The  Spanish  line  of  battle  was  seven  miles 
across,  but  when  the  armada  was  sighted,  Drake  on 
Plymouth  Hoe  had  time  to  finish  his  game  of  bowls 
before  he  put  to  sea. 

From  hill  to  hill  through  England  the  beacon  fires 
roused  the  men,  the  church  bells  called  tli  ti  to 
prayer,  and  all  along  the  southern  coast  fort  echoed 
fort  while  guns  and  trumpets  announced  the  armada's 
coming.  The  English  fleet,  too  weak  to  attack,  but 
fearfully  swift  to  eat  up  stragglers,  snapped  like  a 
wolf-pack  at  the  heels  of  Spain.  Four  days  and 
nights  on  end  the  armada  was  goaded  and  torn  in 


THE  FOUR  ARMADAS  237 

sleepless  misery,  no  longer  in  line  of  battle,  but  hud- 
dled and  flying.  At  the  Straits  they  turned  at  bay 
with  thirty-five  hundred  guns,  but  eight  ships  bore 
dowm  on  fire,  stampeding  the  broken  fleet  to  be 
slaughtered,  foundered,  burned  or  cast  away,  strewing 
the  coast  with  wreckage  from  Dover  to  Cape  Wrath 
and  down  the  Western  Isles.  Fifty-three  ruined 
ships  got  back  to  Spain  with  a  tale  of  storms  and  the 
English  which  Europe  has  never  forgotten,  insuring 
the  peace  of  EngUsh  homes  for  three  whole  centuries. 
A  year  passed,  and  the  largest  of  all  the  armadas 
ventured  to  sea,  this  time  from  the  West  Indies,  a 
treasure  fleet  for  Spain.  Of  two  hundred  twenty 
ships  clearing  not  more  than  fifteen  arrived,  the  rest 
being  "  drowned,  burst,  or  taken."  Storms  and  the 
English  destroyed  that  third  armada. 

The  fourth  year  passed,  marked  by  a  hurricane  in 
the  Western  Isles,  and  a  great  increase  of  England's 
reckoning,  but  the  climax  of  Spaii's  tmdcing  was  still 
to  come  m  1591,  the  year  of  the  fourth  armada. 

To  meet  and  convoy  her  treasure  fleet  of  one  hun- 
dred ten  sail  from  the  Imfas,  Spain  sent  out  thirty 
battle-ships  to  the  Azores.  There  lay  an  English 
squadron  of  sixteen  vessels,  also  in  waiting  for  the 
treasure  fleet,  whose  policy  was  not  to  attack  the 
escort,  which  carried  no  plunder  worth  taking  Lord 
Howard's  vice-admiral  was  Sir  Richard  Grenville 
commanding  Drake's  old  flagship,  the  Revenge  of 
seven  hundred  tons.  This  Grenville,  says  Linschoten, 
was  a  wealthy  man,  a  little  eccentric  also,  for  dining 
once  with  some  Spanish  officers  he  must  needs  play  the 
trick  of  crunching  wine-glasses,  and  making  believe  to 
swallow  the  glass  while  blood  ran  from  his  lips     He 


2a8 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


was  "  very  unquiet  in  his  mind,  and  greatly  affected  to 
war,"  dreaded  bv  the  Spaniards,  detested  by  his  men. 

On  sighting  t";  ■  Spanish  squadron  of  escort, 
Howard  put  to  S' .  n„i  Grenville  had  a  hundred  sick 
men  to  bring  on  K>ai d  the  Revenge ;  his  hale  men  were 
skylarking  ashore.  He  stayed  behind,  when  he  at- 
tempted to  rejoin  the  squadron  the  Spanish  fleet  of 
escort  was  in  his  way. 

On  board  the  Revenge  the  master  gave  orders  to 
alter  course  for  flight  until  Grenville  threatened  to 
hang  him.  It  was  Grenville's  sole  fault  that  he  was 
presently  beset  by  eight  ships,  each  of  them  double 
the  size  of  the  Revenge.  So  one  small  cruiser  for  the 
rest  of  the  day  and  all  night  fought  a  whole  fleet,  engag- 
ing ircxa  first  to  last  thirteen  ships  of  the  line.  She 
sank  two  ships  and  well-nigh  wrecked  five  more,  the 
Spaniards  losing  four  hundred  men  in  a  fight  with 
seventy.  Only  when  their  admiral  lay  shot  through 
the  head,  and  their  last  gun  was  silenced,  their  last 
boarding  pike  broken,  the  sixty  wounded  men  who 
were  left  alive,  made  terms  with  the  Spaniards  and 
laid  down  their  arms. 

Grenville  was  carried  on  board  the  Flagship,  where 
the  officers  of  the  Spanish  fleet  assembled  to  do  'lim 
honor,  and  in  their  own  language  he  spoke  that  night 
his  last  words:  "Here  die  I,  Richard  Grenville. 
with  a  joyful  and  quiet  mind,  for  I  have  ended  my 
Kfe  as  a  true  soldier  ought  to  do,  that  hath  fought  for 
his  cotintry,  qoren,  religion  and  honor;  whereby 
my  soul  most  joyfully  departeth  out  of  this  body ;  and 
diall  leave  behind  it  an  everlasting  fame  of  a  valiant 
and  true  scddier  that  hath  done  hit  duty  as  he  was 
bouod  to  do." 


■'^"<   I'iKiiAKii  (Ikk.vm: 


THE  FOUR  ARMADAS 


aa9 


With  that  he  died,  and  his  body  wai  committed  to 
the  lea.  As  to  those  who  survived  of  his  ship's  com- 
pany, the  Spaniards  treated  them  with  honor ;  send- 
ing them  as  free  men  home  to  England.  But  they 
believed  that  the  body  of  Grenville  being  in  the  sea 
raised  that  appalling  cyclone  that  presently  destroyed 
the  treasure  fleet  and  its  escort,  in  all  one  hundred 
seven  ships,  including  the  Revenge. 

So  perished  the  fourth  armada,  making  withm  five 
years  a  total  loss  of  four  hundred  eighty-nine  capiUl 
ships,  in  all  the  greatest  sea  calamity  that  ever  befell  a 
nation.    Hear  then  the  comment  of  Linschoten  the 
Dutchman.    The  Spaniards  thought  that  "  Fortune,  or 
rather  God,  was  wholly  against  them.    Which  is  a 
sufficient  cause  to  make  the  Spaniards  out  of  heart; 
and  on  the  contrary  to  give  the  Englishmen  more  cour- 
age, and  to  make  them  bolder.    For  they  are  victorious, 
stout  and  valiant;  and  all  their  enterprises  do  take  so 
good  an  effect  that  they  are,  hereby,  become  the  lords 
and  masters  of  the  sea." 

The  Portuguese  were  by  no  means  the  first  seamen 

to  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.    About  six  hundred 

years  B.  C.  the  Pharaoh  of  Egypt,  Niko,  sent  a 

Phoenician  squadron  from  the  Red  Sea,  to  find  their 

way  round  Africa  and  through  Gibraltar  Strait,  back 

to  the  Nile.    "  When  autumn  came  they  went  ashore, 

wherever  they  might  happen  to  be,  and  having  sown 

a  tract  of  land  with  com,  waited  till  the  grain  was  fit 

to  eat    Having  reaped  it,  they  again  set  sail;  and 

thus  it  came  to  pass  that  two  whole  years  went  by. 

and  it  was  not  until  the  third  year  that  they  doubled 

the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  and  made  good  their  voyage 


•"OOCOTY  (KOWTION   TBt  CHAn 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


IM 


at 


1 


1.8 


1:25   i  1.4 


1^  i^    1^ 


-APPLIED  IM/CE    In 

1653  East  Main  StrMi 

RochMttf.  N««  York         14609       US* 

(716)   482  -  0300  -  Phorw 

(716)   2B8-5989-Fg» 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


home.  On  their  return,  they  declared  — for  my 
part,  do  not  believe  them,  but  perhaps  others  may  — 
that  in  saihng  round  Lybia  (Africa),  they  had  the 
sun  on  their  right  hand"  (i.  e.  in  the  northern  sky). 
Herodotus.  " 


XXXIII 

A.  D.  1583 

SIR  HUMPHREY  GILBERT 

<'LTE  is  not  worthy  to  live  at  all,  that  for  any  fear 
•^  ■■■  of  danger  of  death,  shunneth  his  countrey's 
service  and  his  own  honor." 

This  message  to  all  men  of  every  English  nation 
was  written  by  a  man  who  once  with  his  lone  sword 
covered  a  retreat,  defending  a  bridge  against  twenty 
horsemen,  of  whom  he  killed  one,  dismounted  two 
and  wounded  six. 

In  all  his  wars  and  voyages  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert 
won  the  respect  of  his  enemies,  and  even  of  his 
friends,  while  in  his  writings  one  finds  the  first  idea 
of  British  colonies  overseas.  At  the  end  of  his  life's 
endeavor  he  commanded  a  squadron  that  set  out 
to  found  a  first  British  colony  in  Virginia,  and  on 
the  way  he  called  at  the  port  of  Saint  Johns  in  New- 
foundland. Six  years  after  the  first  voyage  of  Co- 
lumbus, John  Cabot  had  rediscovered  the  American 
mainland,  naming  and  claiming  this  New-found  Land 
and  its  port  for  Henry  VII  of  England.  Since  then 
for  nearly  a  hundred  years  the  fishermen  of  Europe 
had  come  to  this  coast  for  cod,  but  the  Englishmen 
clamied  and  held  the  ports  where  the  fish  were 
smoked.  Now  in  1583  Gilbert  met  the  fishermen, 
English  and  strangers  alike,  who  delivered  to  him  a 
331 


232 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


stick  of  the  timber  and  a  turf  of  the  soil  in  token  of  his 
possession  of  the  land,  while  he  hoisted  the  flag  of 
England  over  her  first  colony,  by  this  act  founding 
the  British  empire. 

When  Gilbert  left  Saint  Johns,  he  had  a  secret  that 
made  him  beam  with  joy  and  hint  at  mysterious 
wealth.  Perhaps  his  mining  expert  had  found  pyrites 
and  reported  the  stuflF  as  gold,  or  glittering  crystals 
that  looked  like  precious  stones.  Maybe  it  was  the 
parcel  of  specimens  for  which  he  sent  his  page  boy 
on  board  the  Delight,  who,  failing  to  bring  them,  got 
a  terrific  thrashing. 

When  the  Delight,  his  flagship,  was  cast  away  on 
Sable  Island,  with  a  hundred  men  drowned  and  the 
sixteen  survivors  missing,  Gilbert  mourned,  it  was 
thought,  more  for  his  secret  than  for  ship  or  people. 
From  that  time  the  wretchedness  of  his  men  aboard 
the  ten-ton  frigate,  the  Squirrel,  weighed  upon  him. 
They  were  in  rags,  hungry  and  frightened,  so  to 
cheer  them  up  he  left  his  great  ship  and  joined  them. 
The  Virginia  voyage  was  abandoned,  they  squared 
away  for  England,  horrified  by  a  walrus  passing  be- 
tween the  ships,  which  the  mariners  took  for  a  demon 
jeering  at  their  misfortunes. 

They  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  foul  weather,  with 
great  seas  running,  so  that  the  people  implored  their 
admiral  no  longer  to  risk  his  life  in  the  half-swamped 
Squirrel. 

"  I  will  not  forsake  my  little  company,"  was  all  his 
answer.  The  seas  became  terrific  and  the  weird 
corposants,  Saint  Elmo's  electric  fires  "  flamed  amaze- 
ment," from  masts  and  spars,  sure  harbinger  of  still 
more  dreadful  weather. 


SIR  HUMPHREY  GILBERT  233 

A  green  sea  filled  the  Squirrel  and  she  was  near 
sinking,  but  as  she  shook  the  water  off,  Sir  Humphrey 
Gilbert  waved  his  hand  to  the  Golden  Hind  "  Fear 
not,  my  masters!"  he  shouted,  "we  are  as  near  to 
Heaven  by  sea  as  by  land." 

As  the  night  fell,  he  was  still  seen  sitting  abaft  with 
a  book  in  his  hand. 

Then  at  midnight  all  of  a  sudden  the  frigate's 
lights  were  out,  "  for  in  that  moment  she  was  de- 
voured, and  swallowed  up  by  the  sea,"  and  the  soul 
of  Humphrey  GUbert  passed  out  of  the  great  unrest 


XXXIV 

A.  D.  1603 

SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH 

TO  its  nether  depths  of  shfeme  and  topmost  heights 
of  glory,  the  sixteenth  century  is  summed  up  in 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  He  was  Gilbert's  young  half- 
brother,  thirteen  years  his  junior,  and  a  kinsman  of 
Drake,  Hawkins  and  Grenville,  all  men  of  Devon. 

He  played  the  dashing  young  gallant,  butchering 
Irish  prisoners  of  war;  he  played  the  leader  in  the 
second  sack  of  Cadiz;  he  played  the  knight  errant  in 
the  Azores,  when  all  alone  he  stormed  the  breached 
walls  of  a  fort;  he  played  the  hero  of  romance  in  a 
wild  quest  up  the  Orinoco  for  the  dream  king  El 
Dorado,  and  the  mythical  golden  city  of  Manoa.  Al- 
ways he  played  to  the  gallery,  and  when  he  must  dress 
the  part  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  adoring  lover,  he  let  it 
be  known  that  his  jeweled  shoes  had  cost  six  thou- 
sand pieces  of  gold.  He  wrote  some  of  the  noblest 
prose  in  our  language  besides  most  exquisite  verse,  in- 
vented distilling  of  fresh  water  from  the  sea,  and 
paid  for  the  expeditions  which  founded  Virginia. 

So  many  and  varied  parts  this  mighty  actor  played 

supremely  weli,  holding  the  center  of  the  stage  as 

long  as  there  was  an  audience  to  hiss,  or  to  applaud 

him.    Only  in  private  he  shirked  heights  of  manliness 

834 


Sir  Walter  Rai.f.tgh 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH 


335 


that  he  saw  but  dared  not  climb  and  was  by  turns 
a  sneak,  a  toady,  a  whining  hypocrite  whose  public 
life  is  one  of  England's  greatest  memories,  and  his 
death  of  almost  superhuman  grandeur. 

\Vhen  James  the  Cur  sat  on  the  throne  of  great 
Elizabeth,  his  courtiers  had  Raleigh  tried  and  con- 
demned to  death.  The  charge  was  treason  in  taking 
Spanish  bribes,  not  a  likely  act  of  Spain's  great  enemy, 
one  of  the  few  items  omitted  from  Sir  Walter's  menu 
of  little  peccadillos.  James  as  lick-spittle  and  flunkey- 
in-chief  to  the  king  of  Spain,  kept  Raleigh  for  fifteen 
years  awaiting  execution  in  the  tower  of  London. 
Then  Raleigh  appealed  to  the  avarice  of  the  court, 
talked  of  Manoa  and  King  El  Dorado,  offered  to 
fetch  gold  from  the  Orinoco,  and  got  leave,  a  prisoner 
on  parole,  to  sail  once  more  for  the  Indies. 

They  say  that  the  myth  of  El  Dorado  is  based  on 
the  curious  mirage  of  a  city  which  in  some  kinds  of 
weather  may  sti'J  be  seen  across  Lake  Maracaibo. 
Raleigh  and  his  people  found  nothing  but  mosquitoes, 
fever  and  hostile  Spaniards ;  the  voyage  was  a  failure, 
and  he  came  home,  true  to  his  honor,  to  have  his 
head  chopped  off. 

"  I  have,"  he  said  on  the  scaffold,  "  a  long  journey 
to  take,  and  must  bid  the  company  farewell." 

The  headsman  knelt  to  receive  his  pardon.  Testing 
with  his  finger  the  edge  of  the  ax,  Raleigh  lifted 
and  kissed  the  blade.  "  It  is  a  sharp  and  fair  med- 
icine," he  said  smiling,  "to  cure  me  of  all  my 
diseases." 

Then  the  executioner  lost  his  nerve  altogether, 
"What  dost  thou  fear?"  asked  Raleigh.  "Strike, 
man,  strike  1" 


336 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


"Oh  eloquent,  just,  and  mighty  Death!  Whom 
none  could  advise,  thou  hast  persuaded;  what  none 
hath  dared,  thou  hast  done;  and  whom  all  the  world 
hath  flattered,  thou  hast  cast  out  of  the  world  and 
despised : 

"  Thou  hast  drawn  together  all  the  far-stretched 
greatness,  all  the  pride,  cruelty  and  ambition  of  man, 
and  covered  it  all  over  with  these  two  narrow  words. 
Hie  jacet.  1 


James   [ 


XXXV 

A.  D.  1608 
CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH 

THE  sentence  just  quoted,  the  most  beautiful  per- 
haps in  English  prose,  is  copied  from  the  Hu- 
tory  of  the   World,  which  Raleigh  wrote  when  a 
prisoner  in  the  tower,  while  wee  James  sat  on  the 
throne.    It  was  then  that  a  gentleman  and  adventurer, 
Captain  John  Smith,  came  home  from  foreign  parts. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  Mr.  Smith  was  a  trooper 
serving  with  the  Dutch  in  their  war  with  Spain.    As 
a  mariner  and  gunner  he  fought  in  a  little  Breton  ship 
which  captured  one  of  the  great  galleons  of  Venice. 
As  an  engineer,  his  inventions  of  "flying  dragons" 
saved   a    Hungarian   town   besieged   by   the   Turks, 
then  captured  from  the  infidel  the  impregnable  city  of 
Stuhlweissenburg.    So  he  became  a  captain,  serving 
Prince  Sigismund  at  the  siege  of  Reigall.    Heie  the 
attack  was  difficult  and  the  assault  so  long  delayed 
"  that  the  Turks  complained  they  were  getting  quite 
fat  for  want  of  exercise."    So  the  Lord  Turbishaw, 
their  commander,  sent  word  that  the  ladies  of  Reigall 
longed  to  see  some  courtly  feat  of  arms,  and  asked  if 
any  Christian  officer  would  fight  him  for  his  head,  in 
single  combat.    The  lot  fell  to  CapUin  Smith. 

In  presence  of  the  ladies  and  both  armies.  Lord 
Turbishaw  entered  the  lists  on  a  prancing  Arab,  in 
asr 


238  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

shining  armor,  and  from  his  shoulders  rose  great 
•wings  of  eagle  feathers  spangled  with  gold  and  gems. 
Perhaps  these  fine  ornaments  marred  the  Turk's 
steering,  for  at  the  first  onset  Smith's  lance  entered 
the  eye-slit  of  his  visor,  piercing  between  the  eyes  and 
through  the  skull.  Smith  took  the  head  to  his  gen- 
eral and  kept  the  charger. 

Next  morning  a  challenge  came  to  Smith  from  the 
dead  man's  greatest  friend,  t^  name  Grualgo.  This 
time  the  weapons  were  lances,  and  these  being  shat- 
tered, pistols,  the  fighting  being  prolonged,  and  both 
men  wounded,  but  Smith  took  Grualgo's  head,  his 
horse  and  armor. 

As  soon  as  his  wound  was  healed,  at  the  request  of 
his  officer  commanding,  Smith  sent  a  letter  to  the 
ladies  of  Reigall,  saying  he  did  not  wish  to  keep  the 
heads  of  their  two  servants.    Would  they  please  send 
another  champion  to  take  the  heads  and  his  own? 
They  sent  an  officer  of  high  rank  named  Bonni  Mul- 
gro.    This  third  fight  began  with  pistols,  followed  by 
a  prolonged  and  well-matched  duel  with  battle-axes. 
f?Ach  man  in  turn  reeled  senseless  in  the  saddle,  but 
the  fight  was  renewed  without  gain  to  either,  until  the 
Englishman,  letting  his  weapon  slip,  made  a  dive  to 
catch  it,  and  was  dragged  from  his  horse  by  the  Turk. 
Then  Smith's  horse,  grabbed  by  the  bridle,  reared, 
compelling  the  Turk  to  let  go,  and  giving  the  Christian 
time    to    regain    his    saddle.    As    Mulgro    charged. 
Smith's  falchion  caught  him  between  the  plates  of  his 
armor,  and  with  a  howl  of  anguish  the  third  cham- 
pion fell.    So  it  was  that  Smith  won  for  his  coat  of 
arms  the  three  Turks'  heads  erased. 
After  the  taking  and  massacre  of  Reigall,  Smith 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH  239 

with  his  nine  English  comrades,  and  his  fine  squadron 
of   cavalry,   joined  an   army,   which   was   presently 
caught  in  the  pass  of  Rothenthurm  between  a  Turk- 
ish force  and  a  big  Tartar  horde.    By  Smith's  advice, 
the  Christian  cavalry  got  branches  of  trees  soaked  in 
pitch  and  ablaze,  with  which  they  made  a  night  charge 
stampeding  the  Turkish  army.    Next  day  the  eleven 
thousand  Christians  were  enclosed  by  the  Tartars,  the 
pass    was    heaped   with    thirty   thousand    dead  'and 
wounded  men,  and  with  the  remnant  only  two  Eng- 
lishmen  escaped.    The  pillagers  found  Smith  wounded 
but  still  alive,  and  by  his  jeweled  armor,  supposed 
him  to  be  some  very  wealthy  noble,  worth  holding  for 
ransom.    So  he  was  sold  into  slavery,  and  sent  as  a 
gift  by  a  Turkish  chief  to  his  lady  in  Constantinople. 
This  lady  fell  in  love  with  her  slave,  and  sent  him  to 
her  brother,  a  pasha  in  the  lands  north  of  the  Cau- 
casus, begging  for  kindness  to  the  prisoner  until  he 
should  be  converted  to  the  Moslem  faith.    But  the 
pasha,  furious  at  his  sister's  kindness  to  a  dog  of  a 
Christian,   had   him   stripped,   flogged,   ancV  with   a 
spiked  collar  of  iron  riveted  on  his  neck,  made  serv- 
ant to  wait  upon  four  hundred  slaves. 

On  day  the  pasha  found  Smith  threshing  corn,  in 
a  bam  some  three  miles  distant  from  his  castle.  For 
some  time  he  amused  himself  flogging  this  starved  and 
naked  wretch  who  had  once  been  the  champion  of  a 
Christian  army ;  but  Smith  presently  caught  him  a  clip 
behmd  the  ear  with  his  threshing  bat,  beat  his  brains 
ou^  put  on  his  clothes,  mounted  his  Arab  horse 
Md  flrf  across  the  steppes  into  Christian  Russia.' 
Through  Russia  and  Poland  he  made  his  way  to  the 
nun  of  Prince  Sigismund,  who  gave  him  a  purse  of 


340 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


fifteen  thousand  ducats.  As  a  rich  man  he  traveled 
in  Germany,  Spain  and  Morocco,  and  there  made 
friends  with  Captain  Merstham,  whose  ship  lay  at 
Saffee.  He  was  dining  on  board  one  day  when  a  gale 
drove  the  ship  to  sea,  and  there  fell  in  with  two  Span- 
ish battle-ships.  From  noon  to  dusk  they  fought,  and 
in  the  morning  Captain  Merstham  said,  "The  dons 
mean  to  chase  us  again  to-day.  They  shall  have  some 
good  sport  for  their  pains.** 

"  Oh,  thou  old  foxl "  cried  Smith,  slapping  him  on 
the  shoulders.  So  after  prayers  and  breakfast  the 
battle  began  again,  Smith  in  command  of  the  guns,  and 
Merstham  pledging  the  Spaniards  in  a  silver  cup  of 
wine,  then  giving  a  dram  to  the  men.  Once  the  enemy 
managed  to  board  the  little  merchantman,  but  Merst- 
ham and  Smith  touched  off  a  few  bags  of  powder, 
blowing  away  the  forecastle  with  thirty  or  forty  Span- 
iards. That  set  the  ship  on  fire,  but  the  English  put 
out  the  flames  and  still  refused  to  parley.  So  after- 
noon wore  into  evening  and  evening  into  night,  when 
the  riddled  battle-ships  sheered  off  at  last,  their  scup- 
pers running  with  blood. 

When  Captain  Smith  reached  England  he  was 
twenty-five  years  old,  of  singular  strength  and  beauty, 
a  learned  and  most  rarely  accomplished  soldier,  a  man 
of  saintly  life  with  a  boy's  heart.  I  doubt  if  in  the 
long  anrials  of  our  people,  there  is  one  hero  who  left 
so  sweet  a  memory. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  settlement  in  Virginia  had  been 
wiped  out  by  the  red  Indians,  so  the  second  expedition 
to  that  country  had  an  adventurous  flavor  that  ap- 
pealed to  Captain  Smith.  He  gave  all  that  he  had  to 
the  venture,  but  b«ng  s«newhat  masterful,  was  put  in 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH  241 

irons  during  the  voyage  to  America,  and  landed  in 
deep  disgrace,  when  every  man  was  needed  to  work  in 
the  founding  of  the  colony.    Had  all  the  officers  of 
the  expedition  been  drowned,  and  most  of  the  mem- 
bers left  behind,  the  enterprise  would  have  had  som* 
chance  of  success,  for  it  was  mainly  an  expedition  of 
wasters  led  by  idiots.    The  few  real  workers  followed 
Captam  Smith  in  the  digging  and  the  building,  the 
hunting  and  trading;  while  the  idlers  gave  advice,  and 
the  leaders  obstructed  the  proceedings.    The  summer 
was  one  of  varied  interest,  attacks  by  the  Indians, 
pestilence,  famine  and  squabbles,  so  that  the  colony 
would  have  come  to  a  miserable  end  but  that  Captain 
Smith  contrived  to  make  friends  with  the  tribes,  and 
induced  them  to  sell  him  a  supply  of  maize.    He  was 
up-country  in  December  when  the  savages  managed  to 
scalp  his  followers  and  to  take  him  prisoner.    When 
they  tried  to  kill  him  he  seemed  only  amused,  whereas 
they  were  terrified  by  feats  of  magic  that  made  him 
seem  a  god.    He  was  taken  to  the  king  —  Powhatan 
-who  received  the  prisoner  in  state,  gave  him  a  din- 
ner, then  ordered  his  head  to  be  laid  on  a  block  and 

u  Tf  ''*'''"'  *'"*•  ^"*  ^^°"^  the  first  club 
crashed  down  a  little  Indian  maid  ran  forward,  pushed 
the  executioners  aside,  taking  his  head  in  her  arms, 
and  holding  on  so  tightly  that  she  could  not  be  pulled 
Z^l  ^  Pocahontas,  the  king's  daughter,  pleaded 
for  the  Englishman  and  saved  him  >  r         u 

King  Powhatan,  with  an  eye  to  business,  would  now 
give  the  prisoner  his  liberty,  provided  that  he  mieht 
send  two  messengers  with  Smith  for  a  brace  of  the 

fended  the  bastions  of  their  fort.    So  the  captain 


m 
s\ 


242  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

returned  in  triumph  to  his  own  people,  and  gladly  pre- 
sented the  demi-culverins.  At  this  the  king's  messen- 
gers were  embarrassed,  because  the  pair  of  guns 
weighed  four  and  a  half  tons.  Moreover,  when  the 
weapons  were  fired  to  show  their  good  condition,  the 
Indians  were  quite  cured  of  any  wish  for  culvenns, 
and  departed  with  glass  toys  for  the  kmg  and  his 
family.  In  return  came  Pocahontas  with  her  attend- 
ants laden  with  provisions  for  the  starving  garrison. 

The  English  leaders  were  so  grateful  for  succor 
that  they  charged  Captain  Smith  with  the  first  thmg 
that  entered  their  heads,  condemned  him  on  general 
principles,  and  would  have  hanged  him,  but  that  he 
asked  what  they  would  do  for  food  when  he  was  gone, 
then  cheered  the  whole  community  by  putting  the 
prominent  men  in  irons  and  taking  -.ole  command. 
Every  five  days  came  the  Indian  princess  and  her  fol- 
lowers with  a  load  of  provisions  for  Captain  Smith. 
The  people  called  her  the  Blessed  Pocahontas,  for  she 
saved  them  all  from  dying  of  starvation. 

DurJxig  the  five  weeks  of  his  captivity,  Smith  had 
told  che  Indians  fairy  tales  about  Captain  Newport, 
whose  ship  was  expected  soon  with  supphes  for  the 
colony.    Newport  was  the  great  Merowames,  king  of 

*e  sea.  ,     ,  „      ,       j  .» 

When  Newport  arrived  he  was  fearfully  pleased  at 
being  the  great  Merowames,  but  shared  the  disgust 
of  the  officials  at  Captain  Smith's  importance.  When 
he  went  to  trade  with  the  tribes  he  traveled  in  state, 
with  Smith  for  interpreter,  and  began  by  presenting  to 
Powhatan  a  red  suit,  a  hat,  and  a  white  dog  — gifts 
from  the  king  of  England.  Then  to  show  his  own 
importance  he  heaped  up  all  his  trading  goods,  and 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH  243 

offered  them  for  such  maize  as  Powhatan  cared  to  sell 
expecting  tons  and  getting  exactly  four  bushels! 
Smith,  seeing  that  the  colony  would  starve,  produced 
some  bright  blue  beads,  "  very  precious  jewels,"  he  told 
Powhatan,  'composed  of  a  most  rare  substance,  and 
of  the  color  of  the  skies,  of  a  sort,  indeed,  only  to  be 
worn  by  the  greatest,  kings  of  the  world." 

After  hard  bargaining  Powhatan  managed  to  get  a 
very  few  beads  for  a  hundred  bushels  of  grain. 

The  Virginia  Company  sent  out  more  idlers  from 
England,  and  some  industrious  I>'.tchmen  who  stole 
most  of  their  weapons  from  the  English  to  arm  the 
Indian  tribes;  James  I  had  Powhatan  treated  as  a 
brother  sovereign,  and  crowned  with  all  solemnity,  so 
that  he  got  a  swollen  head  and  tried  to  starve  the  settle- 
ment. The  colonists  swaggered,  squabbled  and  loafed 
mstead  of  storing  granaries;  but  all  parties  were 
united  m  one  ambition  —  planning  unpleasant  sur- 
prises for  Captain  Smith. 

Once  his  trading  party  was  trapped  for  slaughter  in 
a  house  at  Powhatan's  camp,  but  Pocahontas,  at  the 
risk  of  her  life,  warned  her  hero,  so  that  all  escaped 
Another  ti.be  caught  Smith  in  a  house  where  he  had 
called  to  buy  grain  of  their  chief.  Smith  led  the  chief 
outside,  with  a  pistol  at  his  ear-hole,  paraded  his  fifteen 
musketeers,  and  frightened  seven  hundred  warriors 
mto  laying  down  their  arms.  And  then  he  made  them 
load  his  ship  with  corn.  This  food  he  served  out  in 
daily  rations  to  working  colonists  only.  After  the 
next  Indian  attempt  on  his  life,  Smith  laid  the  whole 
country  waste  until  the  tribes  were  reduced  to  sub- 
mission. So  his  loafers  reported  him  to  the  company 
for  bemg  cruel  to  the  Indians,  and  seven  shiploads  of 


m 


244  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

officials  and  wasters  were  sent  out  from  England  to 
suppress  the  captain. 

This  was  in  September  of  the  third  year  of  the  col- 
ony, and  Smith,  as  it  happened,  was  returning  to 
Jamestown  from  work  up-country.  He  lay  asleep  in 
the  boat  against  a  bag  of  powder,  on  which  one  of  the 
sailors  was  pleased  to  knock  out  the  ashes  of  his  pipe. 
The  explosion  failed  to  kill,  but  almost  moruUy 
wounded  Captain  Smith,  who  was  obliged  to  return  to 
England  in  search  of  a  doctor's  aid.  After  his  de- 
parture, the  colony  fell  into  its  customary  ways,  help- 
less for  lack  of  leadership,  butchered  by  the  Indians, 
starved,  until,  when  relief  ships  arrived,  there  were 
only  sixty  survivors  living  on  the  bodies  of  the  dead. 
The  relieving  ships  brought  Lord  Delaware  to  com- 
mand, and  with  him,  the  beginnings  of  prosperity. 

When  the  great  captain  was  recovered,  his  next  ex- 
pedition explored  the  coast  farther  north,  which  he 
named  New  England.  His  third  voyage  was  to  have 
planted  a  colony,  but  for  Smith's  capture,  charged 
with  piracy,  by  a  French  squadron.  His  escape  in  a 
dingey  seems  ataiost  miraculous,  for  it  was  on  that 
night  that  the  flagship  which  had  been  his  prison 
foundered  in  a  storm,  and  the  squadron  was  cast  away 
on  the  coast  of  France. 

Meanwhile,  the  Princess  Pocahontas,  had  been 
treacherously  captured  as  a  hostage  by  the  Virginian 
colonists,  which  led  to  a  sweet  love  story,  and  her 
marriage  with  Master  John  Rolfe.  With  him  she 
presently  came  on  a  visit  to  England,  and  everywhere 
the  Lady  Rebecca  Rolfe  was  received  with  royal  hon- 
ors as  a  king's  daughter,  winning  all  hearts  '>y  her 
beauty,  her  gentleness  and  dignity.    In  England  she 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH 


MS 


again  met  Captain  Smith,  whom  she  had  ever  rever- 
enced as  a  god.  But  then  the  bitter  English  winter 
struck  her  down,  and  she  died  before  a  ship  could 
take  her  home,  being  buried  in  the  churchyard  in 
Gravesend. 

The  captain  never  again  was  able  to  adventure  his 
life  overseas,  but  for  sixteen  years,  broken  with  his 
wounds  and  disappointment,  wrote  books  commending 
America  to  his  countrymen.  To  the  New  England 
which  he  explored  and  named,  went  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers,  inspired  by  his  works  to  sail  with  the  May- 
Aower,  that  they  might  found  the  colony  which  he  pro- 
jected. Virginia  and  New  England  were  called  his 
children,  those  English  colonies  which  since  have 
grown  into  the  giant  republic.  So  the  old  captain 
finished  such  a  task  as  "  God,  after  His  manner,  as- 
signs to  His  Englishmen." 


I 


XXXVI 

A.  D.  1670 

THE  BUCCANEERS 

IT  is  only  a  couple  of  centuries  since  Spain  was  the 
greatest  nation  on  earth,  with  the  Atlantic  for  her 
duck  pond,  the  American  continents  for  her  back  yard, 
and  a  notice  up  to  warn  away  the  English,  "  No  dogs 
admitted." 

England  was  a  little  power  then  Charles  II  had  to 
come  running  when  the  French  king  whistled,  and 
we  were  so  weak  that  the  Dutch  burned  our  fleet  in 
London  River.  Every  year  a  Spanish  fleet  came  from 
the  West  Indies  to  Cadiz,  laden  deep  with  gold,  silver, 
gems,  spices  and  all  sorts  of  precious  merchandise. 

Much  as  our  sailors  hated  to  see  all  that  treasure 
wasted  on  Spaniards,  England  had  to  keep  the  peace 
with  Spain,  because  Charles  II  had  his  crown  jewels 
in  pawn  ard  no  money  for  such  luxuries  as  war.  The 
Spanish  envoy  would  come  to  him  making  doleful 
lamentations  about  our  naughty  sailors,  who,  in  the 
far  Indies,  had  insolently  stolen  a  galleon  or  sacked  a 
own.  Charles,  with  his  mouth  watering  at  such  a 
tale  of  loot,  would  be  inexpressibly  shocked.  The 
"  lewd  French  "  must  have  done  this,  or  the  "  perni- 
cious Dutch,"  but  not  our  woolly  lambs  —  our  innocent 
mariners. 

The  buccaneers  of  the  West  Indies  were  af  many 
346 


THE  BUCCANEERS 


»« 


naticms  besides  the  British,  and  they  were  not  quite 
pirates.  For  instance,  they  would  scorn  to  seize  a 
good  Protestant  shipload  of  salt  fish,  but  always  at- 
tacked the  papist  who  flaunted  golden  galleons  before 
the  nose  of  the  poor.  They  were  serious-minded 
Protestants  with  strong  views  on  doctrine,  and  only 
made  their  pious  excursions  to  seize  the  goods  of  the 
unrighteous.  Their  opinions  were  sj  sound  on  alt 
really  important  points  of  dogmatic  theology  that  they 
could  allow  themselves  a  little  indulgence  in  mere  rape, 
sacrilege,  arson,  robbery  and  murder,  or  fry  Spaniards 
in  olive  oil  for  concealing  the  cash  box.  Then,  en- 
riched by  such  pious  exercises,  they  devoutly  spent  the 
whole  of  their  savings  on  staying  drunk  for  a  month. 
The  first  buccaneers  sallied  out  in  a  small  boat  and 
captured  a  war-ship.  From  such  small  beginnings 
arose  a  pirate  fleet,  which,  under  various  leaders, 
French,  Dutch,  Portuguese,  became  a  scourge  to  the 
Spanish  empire  overseas.  When  they  had  wiped 
out  Spain's  merchant  shipping  and  were  short  of 
plunder,  they  attacked  fortified  cities,  held  them  to 
ransom,  and  burned  them  for  fun,  then  in  chase  of  the 
fugitive  citizens,  put  whole  colonies  to  an  end  by  sword 
and  fire. 

Naturally  only  the  choicest  scoundrels  rose  to  cap- 
taincies, and  the  worst  of  the  lot  became  admiral.  It 
should  thrill  the  souls  of  all  Welshmen  to  learn  that 
Henry  Morgan  gained  that  bad  eminence.  He  had 
risen  to  the  command  of  five  hundred  cutthroats  when 
he  pounced  down  on  Maracaibo  Bay  in  Venezuela. 
At  the  entrance  stood  Fort  San  Carlos,  the  place  which 
has  lately  resisted  the  attack  of  a  German  squadron. 
Morgan  was  made  of  sterner  stuff  than  these  Germans, 


248  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTORE 

for  when  the  garrison  saw  him  coming,  they  took  to 
the  woods,  leaving  behind  them  a  lighted  fuse  at  the 
door  of  the  magazine.  Captain  Morgan  grabbed  that 
fuse  himself  in  time  to  save  hU  men  from  a  disagree- 
able hereafter.  ^  r-  i  A 
Beyond  its  narrow  entrance  at  Fort  San  Carlos,  the 
inlet  widens  to  an  inland  sea,  surrounded  in  those  days 
by  Spanish  settlements,  with  the  two  cities  of  GibralUr 
and  Maracaibo.  Morgan  sacked  these  towns  and 
chased  their  flying  inhabitants  into  the  mountams. 
His  prisoners,  even  women  and  children,  were  tonured 
on  the  rack  until  they  revealed  all  that  they  knew  of 
hidden  money,  and  some  were  burned  by  mches, 
starved  to  death,  or  crucified. 

These  pleasures  had  been  continued  for  five  weeks, 
when  a  squadron  of  three  heavy  war-ships  arrived  from 
Spain,  and  blocked  the  pirates'  only  line  of  retreat  to 
the  sea  at  Fort  San  Carlos.  Morgan  prepared  a  fire 
ship,  with  which  he  grappled  and  burned  the  Spanish 
admiral.  The  second  ship  was  wrecked,  the  third 
captured  by  the  pirates,  and  the  sailors  of  the  whole 
squadron  were  butchered  while  they  drowned.  Still 
Fort  San  Carlos,  now  bristling  with  new  guns,  had  to 
be  dealt  with  before  the  pirates  could  make  their 
escape  to  the  sea.  Morgan  pretended  to  attack  from 
the  land,  so  that  all  the  guns  were  shifted  to  that  side 
of  the  fort  ready  to  wipe  out  his  forces.  This  being 
done,  he  got  his  men  on  board,  and  sailed  through  the 
channel  in  perfect  safety. 

And  yet  attacks  upon  such  places  as  Maracaibo  were 
mere  trifling,  for  the  Spaniards  held  all  the  wealth  of 
their  golden  Indies  at  Panama.  This  gorgeous  city 
was  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  to  reach  it,  one  must 


n 


Sir   HfiNRV   MoKci. 


THE  BUCCANEERS  349 

CTMi  the  Itthmtu  of  Darien  by  the  route  in  later  times 
of  the  Panama  railway  and  the  Panama  Canal, 
through  the  most  unwholesome  swamps,  where  to  sleep 
at  night  in  the  open  was  almost  sure  death  from  fever. 
Moreover,  the  landing  place  at  Chagres  was  covered 
by  a  strong  fortress,  the  route  was  swarming  with 
Spanish  troops  and  wild  savages  in  their  pay,  and  their 
destination  was  a  walled  city  esteemed  impregnable. 

By  way  of  p'^paring  for  his  raid,  Morgan  sent  four 
hundred  men  who  stormed  the  castle  of  Chagres,  com- 
pelling the  wretched  garrison  to  jump  off  a  cliff  to  de- 
struction. The  English  flag  shone  from  the  citadel 
when  Morgan's  fleet  arrived.  The  captain  landed  one 
thousand  two  hundred  men  and  set  off  up  the  Chagres 
River  with  five  boats  loaded  with  artillery,  thirty-two 
canoes  and  no  food.  This  was  a  mistake,  because  the 
Spaniards  had  cleared  the  whole  isthmus,  driving  off 
the  cattle,  rooting  out  the  ^ops,  carting  away  the 
grain,  burning  every  roof,  and  leaving  nothing  for  the 
pirates  to  live  on  except  the  microbes  of  fever.  As 
the  pirates  adva.iced  they  retreated,  luring  them  on 
day  by  d,/  into  the  heart  of  the  wilderness.  The 
pirates  broiled  and  ate  their  sea  boots,  their  bandoleers, 
and  certain  leather  bags.  The  river  being  foul  with 
fallen  timber,  they  took  to  marching.  On  the  sixth 
day  they  found  a  bam  fuU  of  maize  and  ate  it  up,  but 
only  on  the  ninth  day  had  they  a  decent  meal,  when, 
sweating,  gasping  and  swearing,  they  pounced  upon 
a  herd  of  asses  and  cows,  and  fell  to  roasting  flesh  on 
the  points  of  their  swords. 

On  the  tenth  day  they  debouched  upon  a  plain  be- 
fore the  City  of  Panama,  where  the  governor  awaited 
with  his  troops.    There  were  two  squadrons  of  cav- 


aSo 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


airy  and  four  regiments  of  foot,  besides  guns,  and  the 
pirates  heartily  wished  themselves  at  home  with  their 
mothers.  Happily  the  Spanish  governor  was  too 
sly,  for  he  had  prepared  a  herd  of  wild  bulls  with 
Indian  herders  to  drive  into  the  pirate  ranks,  which 
bulls,  ii.  sheer  stupidity,  rushed  his  own  battalions. 
Such  bulls  as  tried  to  fly  through  the  pirate  lines  were 
readily  shot  down,  but  the  re*  brought  dire  confusion. 
Then  began  a  fierce  battle,  in  which  the  Spaniards  lost 
six  hundred  men  before  they  bolted.  Afterward 
through  a  fearful  storm  of  fire  from  great  artillery, 
the  pirates  stormed  the  city  and  took  possession. 

Of  course,  by  this  time,  the  rich  galleons  had  made 
away  to  -ea  with  their  treasure,  and  the  citizens  had 
carried  off  everything  worth  moving,  to  the  woods. 
Moreover,  the  pirates  were  hasty  in  burning  the  town, 
so  that  the  treasures  which  had  been  buried  in  wells 
or  cellars  were  lost  beyond  all  finding.  During  four 
weeks,  this  splendid  capital  of  the  Indies  burned,  while 
the  people  hid  in  the  woods ;  and  the  pirates  tortured 
everybody  they  could  lay  hands  on  with  fiendish 
cruelty.  Morgan  himself,  caught  a  beautiful  lady  and 
threw  her  into  a  cellar  full  of  filth  because  she  would 
not  love  him.  Even  in  their  retreat  to  the  Atlantic,  the 
pirates  carried  oflf  six  hundred  prisoners,  who  rent  the 
air  with  their  lamt.itations,  and  were  not  even  fed 
until  their  ransoms  arrived. 

Before  reaching  Chagres,  Morgan  had  every  pirate 
stripped  to  make  sure  that  all  loot  was  fairly  divided. 
The  common  pirates  were  bitterly  offended  at  the  divi- 
dend of  only  two  hundred  pieces  of  eight  per  man,  but 
Morgan  stole  the  bulk  of  the  plunder  for  himself,  and 
returned  a  millionaire  to  Jamaica. 


THE  BUCCANEERS 


251 


Charles  II  knighted  him  and  made  him  governor  of 
Jamaica  as  a  reward  for  robbing  the  Spaniards. 
Afterwards  his  majesty  changed  his  mind,  and  Mor- 
gan died  a  prisoner  in  the  tower  of  London  as  a 
punishment  for  the  very  crime  which  had  been  re- 
warded with  a  title  and  a  vice-royalty. 


Ill 


XXXVII 

A.  D.  1682 

THE  VOYAGEURS 

THIS  chapter  must  begin  with  a  very  queer  tale 
of    rivers   as   adventurers    exploring    for   new 
channels. 

Millions  of  years  ago  the  inland  seas  —  Superior, 
Michigan  and  Huron  — had  their  overflow  down  the 
Ottawa  Valley,  reaching  the  Saint  Lawrence  at  the 
Island  of  Montreal. 

But,  when  the  glaciers  of  the  great  ice  age  blocked 
the  Ottawa  Valley,  the  three  seas  had  to  find  another 
outlet,  so  they  made  a  channel  through  the  Chicago 
River,  down  the  Des  Plaines,  and  the  Illinois,  into  the 
Mississippi. 

And  when  the  glaciers  ma-'e,  across  that  channel,  an 
eml^ankment  which  is  now  the  town  site  of  Chicago, 
the  three  seas  had  to  explore  for  a  new  outlet.  So 
they  filled  the  basin  of  Lake  Erie,  and  poured  over 
the  edge  of  Queenstown  Heights  into  Lake  Ontario. 
The  Iroquois  called  that  fall  the  "  Thunder  of  Wa- 
ters," which  in  their  language  is  Niagara. 

All  the  vast  region  which  was  flooded  by  the  ice-field 

of  the  great  ice  age  became  a  forest,  and  every  river 

turned  by  the  ice  out  of  its  ancient  channel  became  a 

string  of  lakes  and  waterfalls.    This  beautiful  wilder- 

352 


THE  VOYAGEURS 


2S3 


ness  was  the  scene  of  tremendous  adventures,  where 
the  red  Indians  fought  the  white  men,  and  the 
English  fought  the  French,  and  the  Americans  fought 
the  Canadians,  until  the  continent  was  cut  into  equal 
halves,  and  there  ..as  peace. 

Now  let  us  see  what  manner  of  men  were  the  In- 
dians. At  the  summit  of  that  age  of  glory  —  the  six- 
teenth century  —  the  world  was  ruled  by  the  despot 
Akbar  the  Magnificent  at  Delhi,  the  despot  Ivan  the 
Terrible  at  Moscow,  the  despot  Phillip  11  at  Madrid, 
and  a  little  lady  despot,  Elizabeth  of  the  sea. 

Yet  at  that  time  the  people  in  the  Saint  Lawrence 
Valley,  the  Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Senecas,  Cayugas  and, 
in  the  middle,  the  Onondagas,  were  free  republics  with 
female  suffrage  and  women  as  members  of  parlia- 
ment. Moreover  the  president  of  the  Onondagas, 
Hiawatha,  formed  these  five  nations  into  the  federal 
republic  of  the  Iroquois,  and  they  admitted  the  Tus- 
caroras  into  that  United  States  which  was  created  to 
put  an  end  to  war.  In  the  art  of  government  we  have 
not  yet  caught  up  with  the  Iroquois. 

They  were  farmers,  with  rich  fisheries,  had  com- 
fortable houses,  and  fortified  towns.  In  color  they 
were  like  outdoor  Spaniards,  a  tall,  very  handsome 
race,  and  every  bit  as  able  as  the  whites.  Given 
horses,  hard  metals  for  their  tools,  and  some  channel 
or  mountain  range  to  keep  off  savage  raiders,  and  they 
might  well  have  become  more  civilized  than  the  French, 
with  fleets  to  attack  old  Europe,  and  missionaries  to 
teach  us  their  religion. 

Their  first  visitor  from  Europe  was  Jacques  Cartier 
and  they  gave  him  a  hearty  welcome  at  Quebec. 
When  his  men  were  dying  of  scurvy  an  Indian  doctor 


254 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


i 


cured  them.  But  to  show  his  gratitude  Cartier  kid- 
naped the  five  principal  chiefs,  and  ever  after  that, 
with  very  brief  intervals,  the  French  had  reason  to 
fear  the  Iroquois.  Like  many  another  Indian  nation, 
driven  away  from  its  farms  and  fisheries,  the  six  na- 
tion republic  lapsed  to  savagery,  lived  by  hunting  and 
robbery,  ravaged  the  white  men's  settlements  and  the 
neighbor  tribes  for  food,  outraged  and  scalped  the 
dead,  burned  or  even  ate  their  prisoners. 

The  French  colonies  were  rather  over-governed. 
There  was  too  much  parson  and  a  great  deal  too  much 
squire  to  suit  the  average  peasant,  so  all  the  best  of 
the  men  took  to  the  fur  trade.  They  wore  the  Indian 
dress  of  long  fringed  deerskin,  coon  cap,  embroidered 
moccasins,  and  a  French  sash  like  a  rainbow.  They 
lived  like  Indians,  married  among  the  tribes,  fought  in 
their  wars ;  lawless,  gay,  gallant,  fierce  adventurers,  the 
voyageurs  of  the  rivers,  the  runners  of  the  woods. 

With  them  went  monks  into  the  wilderness,  heroic, 
saintly  Jesuits  and  Franciscans,  and  some  of  the  quaint- 
est rogues  in  holy  orders.  And  there  were  gentle- 
men, reckless  explorers,  seeking  a  way  to  China.  Of 
this  breed  came  La  Salle,  whose  folk  were  merchant- 
princes  at  Rouen,  and  himself  pupil  and  enemy  of  the 
Jesuits.  At  the  time  of  the  plague  and  burning  of 
London  he  founded  a  little  settlement  on  the  island 
of  Mount  Royal,  just  by  the  head  of  the  Rc'pids.  His 
dream  was  the  opening  of  trade  with  China  by  way  of 
the  western  rivers,  so  the  colonists,  chafSng  him,  gave 
the  name  La  Chine  to  his  settlement  and  the  rapids. 
To-day  the  railway  trains  come  swirling  by,  with  loads 
of  tea  from  China  to  ship  from  Montreal,  but  not  to 
France. 


THE  VOYAGEURS 


ass 


During  La  Salle's  first  five  years  in  the  wilderness 
he  discovered  the  Ohio  and  the  Illinois,  two  of  the 
head  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Indians  told  him 
of  that  big  river,  supposed  to  be  the  way  to  the  Pacific. 
A  year  later  the  trader  Joliet,  and  the  Jesuit  Saint 
Marcjotte  descended  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the 
Arkansas.  So  La  Salle  dreamed  of  a  French  empire 
in  the  west,  shutting  the  English  between  the  Appa- 
lachians and  the  Atlantic,  with  a  base  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  for  raiding  the  Spanish  Indies,  and 
a  trade  route  across  the  western  sea  to  China.  All 
this  he  told  to  Count  Frontenac,  the  new  governor 
general,  a  man  of  business  who  saw  the  worth  of  the 
adventure.  Frontenac  sent  La  Salle  to  talk  peace 
with  the  Iroquois,  while  he  himself  founded  Fort 
Frontenac  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Ontario.  From  here 
he  cut  the  trade  routes  of  the  west,  so  that  no  furs 
would  ever  reach  the  French  traders  of  Montreal  or 
the  English  of  New  York.  The  governor  had  not 
come  to  Canada  for  his  health. 

La  Salle  was  penniless,  but  his  mind  went  far  beyond 
this  petty  trading;  he  charmed  away  the  dangers  from 
hostile  tribes;  his  heroic  record  won  him  help  from 
France.  Within  a  year  he  began  his  adventure  of  the 
Mississippi  by  buying  out  Fort  Frontenac  ;  i  his  base 
camp.  Here  he  built  a  ship,  and  though  she  was 
wrecked  he  saved  stores  enough  to  cross  the  Niagara 
heights,  and  build  a  second  vessel  on  Lake  Erie. 
With  the  GrUHn  he  came  to  the  meeting  place  of  the 
three  upper  seas  —  Machilli-Mackinac  —  the  Jesuit 
headquarters.  Being  a  good-natured  man  bearing  no 
malice  it  was  with  a  certain  pomp  of  drums,  flags  and 
guns  that  he  saluted  the  fort,  quite  forgetting  that  he 


:| 


256 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


came  as  a  trespasser  into  the  Jesuit  mission.  A  Jesuit 
in  those  days  was  a  person  with  a  halo  at  one  end  and  a 
tail  at  the  other,  a  saint  with  modest  black  draperies 
to  hide  cloven  hoofs,  who  would  fast  all  the  week,  and 
poison  a  guest  on  Saturday,  who  sought  the  glory  of 
martyrdom  not  always  for  the  faith,  but  sometimes 
to  serve  a  devilish  wicked  political  secret  society. 
Leaving  the  Jesuit  mission  an  enemy  in  his  rear,  La 
Salle  built  a  fort  at  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan, 
sent  off  his  ship  for  supplies,  and  entered  the  unknown 
wilderness.  As  winter  closed  down  he  came  with 
thirty-three  men  in  eight  birchbark  canoes  to  the 
Illinois  nation  on  the  river  Illinois. 

Meanwhile  the  Jesuits  sent  Indian  messengers  to 
raise  the  Illinois  tribes  for  war  against  La  Salle,  to 
kill  him  by  poison,  and  to  persuade  his  men  to  desert. 
La  Salle  put  a  rising  of  the  Illinois  to  shame,  ate  three 
dishes  of  poison  without  impairing  his  very  sound 
digestion,  and  made  his  men  too  busy  for  revolt ;  build- 
ing Fort  Brokenheart,  and  a  third  ship  for  the  voyage 
down  the  Mississippi  to  the  Spanish  Indies. 

Then  came  the  second  storm  of  trouble,  news  that 
his  relief  ship  from  France  was  cast  away,  his  fort  at 
Frontenac  was  seized  for  debt,  and  his  supply  vessel 
on  the  upper  lakes  was  lost.    He  must  go  to  Canada. 

The  third  storm  was  still  to  come,  the  revenge  of  the 
English  for  the  cutting  of  their  fur  trade  at  Fort 
Frontenac.  They  armed  five  hundred  Iroquois  to  mas- 
sacre the  Illinois  who  had  befriended  him  in  the  wilder- 


At  Fort  Brokenheart  La  Salle  had  a  valiant  priest 
named  Hennepin,  a  disloyal  rogue  and  a  quite  notable 
liar.    With  two  voyageurs  Fere  Hennepin  was  sent  to 


KoiiKKT    (■.\>,M.ii,u     IIE    i,.v     S.M.I.K 


THE  VOYAGEURS 


»57 


explore  the  river  down  to  the  Mississippi,  and  there 
the  three  Frenchmen  were  captured  by  the  Sioux. 
Their  captors  took  them  by  canoe  up  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony,  so  named  by  Hennepin. 
Thence  they  were  driven  afoot  to  the  winter  villages  of 
the  tribe.  The  poor  unholy  father  being  slow  afoot, 
they  mended  his  pace  by  setting  the  prairie  afire  be- 
hind him.  Likewise  they  anointed  him  with  wildcat 
fat  to  give  him  the  agility  of  that  animal.  Still  he 
was  never  popular,  and  in  the  end  the  three  wanderers 
were  turned  loose.  Many  were  their  vagabond  ad- 
ventures before  they  met  the  explorer  Greysolon  Du 
Luth,  who  took  them  back  with  him  to  Canada.  They 
left  La  Salle  to  his  fate. 

Meanwhile  La  Salle  set  out  from  Fort  Brokenheart 
in  March,  attended  by  a  Mohegan  hunter  who  loved 
him,  and  by  four  gallant  Frenchmen.  Their  journey 
was  fi  miracle  of  courage  across  the  unexplored  woods 
to  ljdk<  Erie,  and  on  to  Frontenac.  There  La  Salle 
hfard  that  the  moment  his  back  was  turned  his  garri- 
son had  looted  and  burned  Fort  Brokenheart ;  but  he 
caught  these  deserters  as  they  attempted  to  pass  Fort 
Frontenac,  and  left  them  there  in  irons. 

Every  man  has  power  to  make  of  his  mind  an  em- 
pire or  a  desert.  At  this  time  Louis  the  Great  was 
master  of  Europe,  La  Salle  a  broken  adventurer,  but 
it  was  the  king's  mind  which  was  a  desert,  compared 
with  the  imperial  brain  of  this  haughty,  silent,  manful 
pioneer.  The  creditors  forgot  that  he  owed  them 
money,  the  governor  caught  fire  from  his  enthusiasm, 
and  La  Salle  went  back  equipped  for  his  gigantic  ven- 
ture in  the  west. 

The  officer  he  had  left  in  charge  at  Fort  Brokenheart 


as8 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


was  an  Italian  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Tonty,  son 
of  the  man  who  invented  the  tontine  life  insurance. 
He  was  a  veteran  soldier  whose  left  hand,  blown  oil, 
had  been  replaced  with  an  iron  fist,  which  the  Indians 
found  to  be  strong  medicine.  One  clout  on  the 
head  sufficed  for  the  fiercest  warrior.  When  his  garri- 
son sacked  the  fort  and  bolted,  he  had  two  fighting 
men  left,  and  a  brace  of  priests.  They  all  sought 
refuge  in  the  camp  of  the  lUinois. 

Presently  this  pack  of  curs  had  news  that  La  Salle 
was  leading  an  army  of  Iroquois  to  their  destruction, 
so  instead  of  preparing  for  defense  they  proposed  to 
murder  Tonty  and  !;is  Frenchmen,  until  the  magic  of 
his  iron  fist  quite  altered  their  point  of  view.  Sure 
enough  the  Iroquois  arrived  in  force,  and  the  cur  pack, 
three  times  as  strong,  went  out  to  fight.  Then  through 
the  midst  of  the  battle  Tonty  walked  into  the  enemy's 
lines.  He  ordered  the  Iroquois  to  go  home  and  behave 
themselves,  and  told  such  fairy  tales  about  the  strength 
of  his  curs  that  these  ferocious  warriors  were  fright- 
ened. Back  walked  Tonty  to  find  his  cur  pack  on 
their  knees  in  tears  of  gratitude.  Again  he  went  to 
the  Iroquois,  this  time  with  stiff  terms  if  they  wanted 
peace,  but  an  Illinois  envoy  gave  his  game  away,  with 
such  extravagant  bribes  and  pleas  for  mercy  that  the 
Iroquois  laughed  at  Tonty.  They  burned  the  Illinois 
town,  dug  up  their  graveyard,  chased  the  flying  nation, 
butchered  the  abandoned  women  and  children,  and 
hunted  the  cur  pack  across  the  Mississippi.  Tonty 
and  his  Frenchmen  made  their  way  to  their  nearest 
friends,  the  Pottawattomies,  to  await  La  Salle's  return. 

And  La  Salle  returned.  He  found  the  Illinois  town 
in  ashes,  littered  with  human  bones.    He  found  an 


THE  VOYAGEURS  359 

iiland  of  the  river  where  women  and  children  by  hun- 
dred* had  been  outraged,  torfred  and  burned.  Hit 
fort  was  a  weed-grown  ruin.  In  all  the  length  of  the 
valley  there  was  no  vestige  of  human  life,  or  any  clue 
as  to  the  fate  of  Tonty  and  his  men.  For  the  third 
time  La  Salle  made  that  immense  journey  to  the  settle- 
ments, wrung  blood  from  stones  to  equip  an  expedi- 
tion, and  coming  to  Lake  Michigan  rallied  the  whole 
of  the  native  tribes  in  one  strong  league,  a  red  Indian 
colony  with  himself  as  chief,  for  defense  from  the 
Iroquois.  The  scattered  Illinois  returned  to  their 
abandoned  homes,  tribes  came  from  far  and  wide  to 
join  the  colony  and  in  the  midst,  upon  Starved  Rock, 
La  Salle  built  Fort  Saint  Louis  as  their  stronghold.' 
When  Tonty  joined  him,  for  once  this  iron  man  showed 
he  had  a  heart. 

So,  after  all,  La  Salle  led  an  expedition  down  the 
whole  length  of  the  Mississippi.  He  won  the  friend- 
ship of  every  tribe  he  met.  bound  them  to  French  al- 
legiance, and  at  the  end  erected  the  standard  of  France 
on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  "  In  the  name 
of  the  most  high,  mighty,  invincible  and  victorious 
Pnnce,  Louis  the  Great,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of 
France  and  of  Navarre,"  on  the  nineteenth  of  April, 
1682.  La  Salle  annexed  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Appalachians,  from 
the  lakes  to  the  gulf,  and  named  that  empire  Loui- 
siana. 

As  to  the  fate  of  this  great  explorer,  murdered  in 
the  wilderness  by  followers  '.e  disdained  to  treat  as 
cwnrades,  "his  enemies  were  more  in  earnest  than  his 
friends." 


XXXVIII 

A.  D.  1741 

THE  EXPLORERS 

FROM  the  time  of  Htnty  VII  of  England  down  to 
the  present  day,  the  nations  of  Europe  have  been 
busy  with  one  enormous  adventure,  the  search  for  the 
best  trade  route  to  India  and  the  China  seas.  For 
four  whole  centuries  this  quest  for  a  trade  route  has 
been  the  main  current  of  the  history  of  the  world. 
Look  what  the  nations  have  done  in  that  long  fight  for 
trade. 

Port  igal  found  the  sea  route  by  Magellan's  Strait, 
and  occupied  Brazil ;  the  Cape  route,  and  colonized  the 
coasts  of  Africa.    She  built  an  empire. 

Spain  mistook  the  West  Indies  for  the  real  Indies, 
and  the  red  men  for  the  real  Indians,  found  the  Pan- 
ama route,  and  occupied  the  new  world  from  Cape 
Horn  up  to  the  southern  edge  of  Alaska.  She  built 
an  empire. 

France,  in  the  search  of  a  route  across  North  Amer- 
ica, occupied  Canada  and  the  Mississippi  Valley.  She 
built  an  empire.  That  lost,  she  attempted  under  Na- 
poleon to  occupy  Egypt,  Palestine  and  the  whole  over- 
land road  to  India.  That  failing,  she  has  dug  the  Suez 
Canal  and  attempted  the  Panama,  both  sea  routes  to 
the  Indies. 

ate 


THE  EXPLORERS  j6i 

Holland,  searching  for  a  route  across  North  Amer- 
ica, found  Hudson's  Bay  and  occupied  Hudson  River 
(New  York).  On  the  South  Sea  route  she  built  her 
rich  empire  in  the  East  Indian  Islands. 

BriUin,  searching  eastward  first,  opened  up  Russia 
to  civilization,  then  explored  the  sea  passage  north  of 
Asia.  Searching  westward,  she  settled  Newfound- 
land,  founded  the  United  States,  built  Canada,  which 
created  the  Canadian  Pacific  route  to  the  Indies,  and 
traversed  the  sea  passage  north  of  America.  On  the 
Panama  route,  she  built  a  West  Indian  empire;  on 
the  Mediterranean  route,  her  fortress  line  of  Gibraltar, 
Malta.  Cyprus,  Egypt,  Adon.  By  holding  all  routes, 
she  liolds  her  Indian  empire.  Is  not  this  the  history 
of  the  world?  ' 

But  there  remains  to  be  told  the  story  of  Russia's 
search  for  routes  to  India  and  China.  That  story 
begms  with  Martha  Rabe,  the  Swedish  nursery  gov- 
erness, who  married  a  dragoon,  left  him  to  be  mistress 
of  a  Russian  general,  became  servant  to  the  Princess 
Menchikoflf,  next  the  lover,  then  the  wife  of  Peter 
the  Great,  and  finally  succeeded  him  as  empress  of  all 
ttie  Russias.  To  the  dazzling  court  of  this  Empress 
Cathenne  came  learned  men  and  travelers  who  talked 
about  the  search  of  all  the  nations  for  a  route  through 
North  America  to  the  Indies.  Long  ago,  they  said,  an 
old  Greek  mariner,  one  Juan  de  Fuca,  had  bragged  on 
the  quays  of  Venice,  of  his  voyages.  He  claimed  to 
have  rounded  Cape  Horn,  and  thence  beat  up  the  west 
coast  of  America,  until  he  came  far  north  to  a  strait 
which  entered  the  land.  Through  this  sea  channel  he 
had  sailed  for  many  weeks,  until  it  brought  him  out 
agam  mto  the  ocean.    One  glance  at  the  map  wiU 


I    I 


a62  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

show  these  straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  and  how  the  otd 
Greek,  sailing  for  many  weeks,  came  out  again  into 
the  ocean,  having  rounded  the  back  of  Vancouver's 
Islmd.  But  the  legend  as  told  to  Catherine  the 
Great  of  Russia,  made  these  mysterious  straits  of 
Anian  lead  from  tlie  Pacific  right  across  North  Amer- 
ica to  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Here  was  a  sea  route  from 
Russia  across  ihe  Atlantic,  across  North  America, 
across  the  Pacific,  direct  to  the  gorgeous  Indies. 
With  such  a  possession  as  this  channel  Russia  could 
dominate  the  world. 

Catherine  set  her  soothsayers  and  wiseacres  to  make 
a  chart,  displaying  these  straits  of  Anian  which  Juan 
de  Fuca  had  found,  and  they  marked  the  place  accord- 
ingly at  forty-eight  degrees  of  north  latitude  on  the 
west  coast  of  America.  But  there  were  also  rumors 
and  legends  in  those  days  of  a  great  land  beyond  the 
uttermost  coasts  of  Siberia,  an  island  that  was  called 
Aliaska,  rilling  the  North  Pacific.  All  such  legends 
and  rumors  the  astrologers  marked  faithfully  upon 
their  map  until  the  thing  was  of  no  more  use  than  a 
dose  of  smallpox.  Then  Catherine  gave  the  precious 
chart  to  two  of  her  naval  officers,  Vitus  Bering,  the 
Dane  —  a  mighty  man  in  the  late  wars  with  Sweden  — 
and  a  Russian  lieutenant  —  TschirikoflE  —  and  bade 
them  go  find  the  straits  of  Anian. 

The  expedition  set  out  overland  across  the  Russian 
and  Siberian  plains,  attended  by  hunters  who  kept  the 
people  alive  on  fish  and  game  until  they  reached  the 
coasts  of  the  North  Pacific.  There  they  built  two 
ships,  the  Stv  Petr  and  the  Stv  Pavl,  and  launched 
tliem,  two  years  from  the  time  of  their  outsetting  from 
Saint  Petersbuif  •    Thirteen  years  they  spent  in  ex- 


THE  EXPLORE  i?S 


263 


ploring  the  Siberian  coast,  northward  iu  ibp  Arctic, 
southward  to  the  borders  of  China,  then  in  1741  set 
out  into  the  unknown  to  search  for  the  Island  of 
AUaska,  and  the  Straits  of  Anian  so  plainly  marked 
upon  their  chart. 

Long  months  they  cruised  about  in  quest  of  that 
island,  finding  nothing,  while  the  crews  sickened  of 
scurvy,  and  man  after  man  died  in  misery,  until  only 
a  few  were  left. 

The  world  had  not  been  laid  out  correctly,  but 
Bering  held  with  fervor  to  his  faith  in  that  official 
chart  for  which  his  men  were  dying.  At  last  Tschiri- 
koff,  unable  to  bear  it  any  longer,  deserted  Bering, 
and  sailing  eastward  many  days,  came  at  last  to  land 
at  the  mouth  of  Cross  Straits  in  Southern  Alaska. 

Beyond  a  rocky  foreshore  and  white  surf,  forests 
of  pine  went  up  to  mountains  lost  in  trailing  clouds. 
Behind  a  little  point  rose  a  film  of  smoke  from  some 
savage  camp-fire.  Tschirikoflf  landed  a  boat's  crew 
in  search  of  provisions  and  water,  which  vanished  be- 
hind the  point  and  was  seen  no  more.  Heart-sick,  he 
sent  a  second  boat,  which  vanished  behind  the  point 
and  was  seen  no  more,  but  the  fire  of  the  savages 
blazed  high.  Two  days  he  waited,  watching  that  pillar 
of  smoke,  and  listened  to  a  far-off  muttering  of  drums, 
then  with  the  despairing  remnant  of  his  crew,  turned 
back  to  the  lesser  perils  of  the  sea,  and  fled  to  Siberia. 
Farther  to  the  northward,  some  three  hundred  miles, 
was  Bering  in  the  Stv  Petr,  driving  his  mutinous 
people  in  a  last  search  for  land.  It  was  the  day  after 
Tschirikoff's  discovery,  and  the  ship,  flying  winged  out 
before  the  southwest  wind,  came  to  green  shallows  of 
the  sea,  and  fogs  that  lay  in  violet  gloom  ahead,  like 


I! 


264 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


some  mysterious  coast  crowned  with  white  cloud 
heights  towering  up  the  sky.  At  sunset,  when  these 
clouds  had  changed  to  flame  color,  they  parted,  sud- 
denly revealing  high  above  the  mastheads  the  most 
tremendous  mountain  in  the  world.  The  sailors  were 
terrified,  and  Bering,  called  suddenly  to  the  tall  after- 
castle  of  the  ship,  went  down  on  his  knees  in  awestruck 
wonder.  By  the  Russian  calendar,  the  day  was  that 
of  the  dread  Elijah,  who  had  been  taken  up  from  the 
earth  drawn  by  winged  horses  of  flame  in  a  chariot 
of  fire,  and  to  these  lost  mariners  it  seemed  that  this 
was  no  mere  mountain  of  ice  walls  glowing  rose  and 
azure  through  a  rift  of  the  purple  clouds,  but  a  vision 
of  the  translation  of  the  prophet.  Bering  named  the 
mountain  Saint  Elias. 

There  is  no  space  here  for  the  detail  of  Bering's 
wanderings  thereafter  through  those  bewildering  laby- 
rinths of  islands  which  skirt  the  Alps  of  Saint  Elias 
westward,  and  reach  out  as  the  Aleutian  Archipelago 
the  whole  way  across  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  region 
is  an  awful  sub-arctic  wilderness  of  rock-set  gaps  be- 
tween bleak  arctic  islands  crowned  by  flaming  vol- 
canoes, lost  in  eternal  fog.  It  has  been  my  fate  to  see 
the  wonders  and  the  terrors  of  that  coast,  which  Be- 
ring's seamen  mistook  for  the  vestibule  of  the  infernal 
regions.  Scurvy  and  hunger  made  them  more  like 
ghosts  of  the  condemned  than  living  men,  until  their 
nightmare  voyage  ended  in  wreck  on  the  last  of  the 
islands,  within  two  hundred  miles  of  the  Siberian 
coast. 

Stellar,  the  German  naturalist,  who  survived  the 
winter,  has  left  record  of  Bering  laid  between  two 
rocks  for  shelter,  where  the  sand  drift  covered  his 


THE  EXPLORERS 


26s 


legs  and  kept  him  warm  through  the  last  days,  then 
made  him  a  grave  afterward.  The  island  was  fre- 
quented by  sea-cows,  creatures  until  then  unknown, 
and  since  wholly  extinct,  Stellar's  being  the  only  ac- 
count of  them.  There  were  thousands  of  sea  otter, 
another  species  that  will  soon  become  extinct,  and 
the  shipwrecked  men  had  plenty  of  wild  meat  to 
feed  on  while  they  passed  the  winter  building  from 
the  timbers  of  the  wreck,  a  boat  to  carry  them  home. 
In  the  spring  they  sailed  with  a  load  of  sea-otter 
skins  and  gained  the  Chinese  coast,  where  their  cargo 
fetched  a  fortune  for  all  hands,  the  furs  being  valued 
for  the  official  robes  of  mandarins. 

At  the  news  of  this  new  trade  in  sea-otter  skins,  the 
hunters  of  Siberia  went  wild  with  excitement,  so  that 
the  survivors  of  Bering's  crew  led  expeditions  of  their 
own  to  Alaska.  By  them  a  colony  was  founded,  and 
though  the  Straits  of  Anian  were  never  discovered, 
because  they  did  not  exist,  the  czars  added  to  their 
dominions  a  new  empire  called  Russian  America. 
This  Alaska  was  sold  in  1867  to  the  United  States  for 
one  million,  five  hundred  thousand  pounds,  enough 
money  to  build  such  a  work  as  London  Bridge,  and 
the  territory  yields  more  than  that  by  far  in  annual 
profits  from  fisheries,  timber  and  gold. 


XXXIX 

A.  D.  1750 

THE  PIRATES 

'TpHERE  are  very  f^w  pirates  left.  The  Riff 
^  Moors  of  Gibraltar  Straits  will  grab  a  wind- 
bound  ship  when  they  get  the  chance ;  the  Arabs  of  the 
Red  Sea  take  stranded  steamers ;  Chinese  practitioners 
shipped  as  passengers  on  a  liner,  will  rise  in  the  night, 
cut  throats,  and  steal  the  vessel ;  moreover  some  little 
retail  business  is  done  by  the  Malays  round  Singapore, 
but  trade  as  a  whole  is  slack,  and  sea  thieves  are  apt 
to  get  themselves  disliked  by  the  British  gunboats. 

This  is  a  respectablT  world,  my  masters,  but  it  is 
getting  dull. 

It  was  very  different  in  the  seventeenth  and  eight- 
eenth centuries  when  the  Sallee  rovers,  the  Algerian 
corsairs,  buccaneers  of  the  West  Indies,  the  Malays 
and  the  Chinese  put  pirate  fleets  to  sea  to  prey  on  great 
commerce,  when  Blackbeard,  Captain  Kidd,  Bartholo- 
mew, Roberts,  Lafitte,  Avery  and  a  hundred  other 
corsairs  under  the  Jolly  Roger  could  seize  tall  ships 
and  make  their  unwilling  seamen  walk  the  plant. 
They  and  their  merry  men  went  mostly  to  the  gallows, 
richly  deserved  the  same,  and  yet  —  well,  nobody  need 
complain  that  times  were  dull. 

There  were  so  many  pirates  one  hardly  knows  which 
266 


THE  PIRATES 


^ 


to  deal  wrth.  but  Avery  was  such  a  mean  rogue,  and 
there  is  such  a  nice  confused  story  — well,  here  goes  I 
He  was  mate  of  the  ship  Duke,  forty-four  guns,  a 
merchant  cruiser  chartered  from  Bristol  for  the  Span- 
isu  service.  His  skipper  was  mightily  addicted  to 
punch,  and  too  drunk  to  object  when  Avery,  conspir- 
mg  with  the  men,  made  bold  to  seize  the  ship.  Then 
he  went  down-stairs  to  wake  the  captain,  who,  in  a 
sudden  fright,  asked,  "What's  the  matter?"  "Oh 
nothing,"  said  Avery.  The  skipper  gobbled  at  him,' 
But  something's  the  matter,"  he  cried.  "  Does  she 
drive?  What  weather  is  it?"  " No,  no,"  answered 
Avery,  "we're  at  sea."  "At  seal  How  can  that 
be?" 

"  Come,"  says  Avery,  "  don't  be  in  a  fright,  but  put 
on  your  clothes,  and  I'll  let  you  into  the  secret  — and 
if  you'll  turn  sober  and  mind  your  business  perhaps,  in 
time,  I  may  make  you  one  of  my  lieutenants,  if  not 
here's  a  boat  alongside,  and  you  shall  be  set  ashore '' 
The  skipper,  still  in  a  fright,  was  set  ashore,  together 
with  such  of  the  men  as  were  honest.  Then  Avery 
sailed  away  to  seek  his  fortune. 

On  the  coast  of  Madagascar,  lying  in  a  bay  two 
sloops  were  found,  whose  seamen  supposed  the  Duke 
to  be  a  ship  of  war  and  being  rogues,  having  stolen 
these  vessels  to  go  pirating,  they  fled  with  rueful  faces 
mlo  the  woods.  Of  course  they  were  frightfully 
pleased  when  they  found  out  that  they  were  not  going 
to  be  hanged  just  yet,  and  delighted  when  Captain 
Avery  asked  them  to  sail  in  his  company.  They  could 
fly  at  big  game  liow,  with  this  big  ship  for  a  consort 
Now,  as  It  happened,  the  G.eat  Mogul,  emperor  of 
iimdustaii,  was  sending  his  daughter  with  a  splendid 


268 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


retinue  to  make  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  and  worship  at 
the  holy  places  of  Mahomet.  The  lady  sailed  in  a 
ship  with  chests  of  gold  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the 
journey,  golden  vessels  for  the  table,  gifts  for  the 
shrines,  an  escort  of  princes  covered  with  jewels, 
troops,  servants,  slaves  and  a  band  to  play  tunes  with 
no  music,  after  the  eastern  manner.  And  it  was  their 
serious  rrisfortune  to  meet  with  Captain  Avery  outside 
the  mouth  of  the  Indus.  'Avery's  sloops,  being  very 
swift,  got  the  prize,  and  stripped  her  of  everything 
worth  taking,  before  they  let  her  go. 

It  shocked  Avery  to  think  of  all  that  treasure  in  the 
sloops  where  it  might  get  lost;  so  presently,  as  they 
sailed  in  consort,  lie  invited  the  captains  of  the  sloops 
to  use  the  big  ship  as  their  strong  room.  They  put 
their  treasure  on  board  the  Duke,  and  watched  close, 
for  fear  of  accidents.  Then  came  a  dark  night  when 
Captain  Avery  mislaid  both  sloops,  and  bolted  with  all 
the  plunder,  leaving  two  crews  of  simple  mariners  to 
wonder  where  he  had  gone. 

Avery  made  off  to  the  New  England  colonies,  where 
he  made  a  division  of  the  plunder,  handing  the  gold  to 
the  men,  but  privily  keeping  all  the  diamonds  for  him- 
self. The  sailors  scattered  out  through  the  American 
settlements  and  the  British  Isles,  modestly  changing 
their  names.  Mr.  Avery  went  home  to  Bristol,  where 
he  found  some  honest  merchants  to  sell  his  diamonds, 
and  lend  him  a  small  sum  on  account.  When,  how- 
ever, he  called  on  them  for  the  rest  of  the  money,  he 
met  with  a  most  shocking  repulse,  because  the  mer- 
chants had  never  heard,  they  said,  of  him  or  his  dia- 
monds, but  would  give  him  to  the  justices  as  a  pirate 
unless  he  shut  his  mouth.    Ke  went  away  and  died 


THE  PIRATES 


a69 


of  grief  at  Bideford  in  Devon,  leaving  no  money  even 
to  pay  for  his  coffin. 

Meanwhile  the  Great  Mogul  at  Delhi  was  making 
such  dismal  lamentations  about  the  robbery  of  his 
daughter's  diamonds  that  the  news  of  Avery's  riches 
spread  to  England.  Rumor  made  him  husband  to  the 
princess,  a  reigning  sovereign,  with  a  pirate  fleet  of  his 
own  —  at  the  very  time  he  was  dying  of  want  at  Bide- 
ford. 

We  left  two  sloops  full  of  pirates  mourning  over  the 
total  depravity  of  Captain  Avery.     Sorely  repenting 
his  sins,  they  resolved  to  amend  their  lives,  and  see 
what  they  could  steal  in  Madagascar.    Landing  on  that 
great  island  they  dismantled  their  sloops,  taking  their 
plentiful  supply  of  guns  and  powder  ashore,  where 
they  camped,  making  their  sails  into  tents.    Here  they 
met  with  another  party  of  English  pirates  who  were 
also  penitent,  having  just  plundered  a  large  and  richly- 
laden  ship  at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea.    Their  divi- 
dend was  three  thousand  pounds  a  man,  and  they  were 
resolved  to  settle  in  Madagascar  instead  of  going  home 
to  be  hanged.    The  two  parties,  both  in  search  of  a 
peaceful  and  simple  life,  made  friends  with  the  various 
native  princes,  who  were  glad  of  white  men  to  assist 
in  the  butchering  of  adjacent  tribes.    Two  or  three 
pirates  at  the  head  of  an  attacking  force  would  put  the 
boldest  tribes  to  flight.    Each  pirate  acquired  his  own 
harem  of  wives,  his  own  horde  of  black  slaves,  his  own 
plantations,  fishery  and  hunting  grounds,  his  kingdom 
wherera  he  reigned  an  absolute  monarch.    If  a  native 
said  impudent  words  he  was  promptly  shot,  and  any 
attack  of  the  tribes  on  a  white  man  was  resented  by 
the  whole  community  of  pirate  kings.    Once  the  ne- 


270  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

groes  conspired  for  a  general  rising  to  wipe  out  their 
oppressors  at  one  fell  swoop,  but  the  wife  of  a  whrte 
man  getting  wind  of  the  plot,  ran  twenty  miles  in  three 
hours  to  alarm  her  lord.  When  the  native  forces  ar- 
rived they  were  warmly  received.  After  that  each  of 
their  lordships  built  a  fortress  for  his  resting  place 
with  rampart  and  ditch  sef  round  with  a  labyrinth  of 
thorny  entanglements,  so  that  the  barefoot  native  com- 
ing as  a  stranger  by  night,  trod  on  spikes,  and  sounded 
a  loud  alarm  which  roused  the  garrison. 

Long  years  went  by.  Their  majesties  grew  stout 
from  high  feeding  and  lack  of  exercise,  hairy,  dressed 
in  skins  of  wUd  beasts,  reigning  each  in  his  kingdom 
with  a  deal  of  dirty  state  and  royalty. 

So  Captain  Woods  found  them  when  he  went  in  the 
ship  Delicia,  to  buy  slaves.  At  the  sight  of  his  forty- 
gun  ship  they  hid  themselves  in  the  woods,  very  suspi- 
cious, but  presently  learned  his  business,  and  came  out 
of  the  woods,  ofifering  to  sell  their  loyal  negro  subjects 
by  hundreds  in  exchange  for  tobacco  and  suits  of  sailor 
clothes,  tools,  powder,  and  ball.  They  had  now  been 
twenty-five  years  in  Madagascar,  and,  what  with  wars, 
accidents,  sickness,  there  remained  eleven  saUor  kings, 
all  heartily  bored  with  their  royalty.  Despite  the  at- 
tachments of  their  harems,  chUdren  and  swarms  of 
grandchildren  and  dependents,  they  were  sick  for  blue 
water,  hungry  for  a  cruise.  Captain  Woods  observed 
that  they  got  very  friendly  with  his  seamen,  and 
learned  t.iat  they  were  plotting  to  seize  the  ship,  hoist 
the  black  flag,  and  betake  themselves  once  more  to 
piracy  on  the  high  seas. 

After  that  he  kept  their  majesties  at  a  distance, 
sending  officers  ashore  to  trade  with  them  until  he  had 


THE  PIRATES 


m 


completed  his  cargo  of  slaves.  So  he  safled,  leaving 
eleven  disconsolate  pirate  kings  in  a  mournful  row 
on  the  tropic  beach,  and  no  more  has  ever  transpired 
as  to  them  or  the  fate  of  their  kingdoms.  Still,  they 
had  fared  much  better  than  Captain  Avery  with  his 
treasure  of  royal  diamonds. 


XL 


A.  D.  1776 
DANIEL  BOONE 

AS  a  matter  of  unnatural  hi-to'y  the  British  lion 
is  really  and  truly  a  lioness  with  a  large  and 
respectable  family.  When  only  a  cub  she  sharpened 
her  teeth  on  Spain,  in  her  youth  crushed  Holland,  and 
in  her  prime  fought  France,  wresting  from  each  in  turn 
the  command  of  the  sea. 

She  was  nearing  her  full  strength  when  France  with 
a  chain  of  forts  along  the  Saint  Lawrence  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi attempted  to  strangle  the  thirteen  British  cubs 
in  America.  By  the  storming  of  Quebec  the  lion 
smashed  that  chain ;  but  the  long  and  world-wide  wars 
with  France  had  bled  her  dry,  and  unless  she  could 
keep  the  sea  her  cubs  were  doomed,  so  bluntly  she  told 
them  they  must  help. 

The  cubs  had  troubles  of  their  own  and  could  not 
help.  Theirs  was  the  legal,  hers  the  moral  right,  but 
botii  sides  fell  in  the  wrong  when  they  lost  their  tem- 
pers. Since  then  the  mother  of  nations  has  reared 
her  second  litter  with  some  of  that  gentleness  which 
comes  of  sorrow. 

So  far  the  French  in  Canada  were  not  settlers  so 
much  as  gay  adventurers  for  the  Christ,  or  for  beaver 
skins,  living  among  the  Indians,  or  in  a  holiday  mood 
leading  the  tribes  against  the  surly  British. 
37a 


DANIEL  BOONE 


273 


So  far  the  British  overseas  were  not  adventurers  so 
much  as  dour  fugitives  from  injustice  at  home,  or  from 
justice,  or  merely  deported  as  a  general  nuisance,  to 
join  in  one  common  claim  to  liberty,  the  fanatics  of 
freedom. 

Unlike  the  French  and  Spaniards,  the  northern 
folk  —  British  or  Dutch,  German  or  Scandinavian  — 
had  no  mission,  except  by  smallpox  to  convert  the 
heathen.  Nothing  cared  they  for  glory  or  adventure, 
but  only  for  homes  and  farms.  Like  a  hive  of  bees 
they  filled  the  Atlantic  coast  lands  with  tireless  in- 
dustry until  they  began  to  feel  crowded ;  then  like  a 
hive  they  swarmed,  over  the  Appalachian  ranges, 
across  the  Mississippi,  over  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
now  in  our  own  time  to  lands  beyond  the  sea. 

Among  the  hard  fierce  colonists  a  very  few  loved 
nature  and  in  childhood  took  to  the  wilds.  Such  was 
the  son  of  a  tame  Devon  Quaker,  young  Daniel  Boone, 
a  natural  marksman,  axman,  bushman,  tracker  and 
scout  of  the  backwoods  who  grew  to  be  a  freckled 
ruddy  man,  gaunt  as  a  wolf,  and  subtle  as  a  snake  from 
his  hard  training  in  the  Indian  wars. 

When  first  he  crossed  the  mountains  on  the  old  war- 
rior trail  into  Kentucky,  hunting  and  trapping  paid 
well  in  that  paradise  of  noble  timber  and  white  clover 
meadows.  The  country  swarmed  with  game,  a  merry 
hunting  ground  and  battle-field  of  rival  Indian  tribes. 

There  Boone  and  his  wife's  brother  Stuart  were 
captured  by  Shawnees,  who  forced  the  prisoners  to 
lead  the  way  to  their  camp  where  the  other  four  hunt- 
ers were  taken.  The  Indians  took  their  horses,  rifles, 
powder,  traps  and  furs,  all  lawful  plunder,  but  gave 
them  food  to  carry  them  to  the  settlements  with  a 


374 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


warning  for  the  whites  that  trespassers  would  be 
prosecuted.  That  was  enough  for  four  of  the  white 
hunters,  but  Boone  and  Stuart  tracked  the  Indians 
and  stole  back  some  of  their  plunder,  only  to  be 
trailed  in  their  turn  and  recaptured.  The  Shawnees 
were  annoyed,  and  would  have  taken  these  trespassers 
home  to  be  burned  alive,  but  for  Boone's  queer  charm 
of  manner  which  won  tlieir  liking,  and  his  ghostlike 
vanishing  with  Stuart  into  the  cane  brakes.  The  white 
men  got  away  with  rifles,  bullets  and  powder,  and  they 
were  wise  enough  not  to  be  caught  again.  Still  it 
needed  some  courage  to  stay  in  Kentucky,  and  after 
Stuart  got  scalped  Boone  said  he  felt  unutterably 
lonely.  Yet  he  remained,  dodging  so  many  and  such 
varied  perils  that  his  loneliness  must  really  have  been 
a  comfort,  for  it  is  better  to  be  dull  in  solitude  than 
scalped  in  company.  He  owed  money  for  his  outfit, 
and  would  not  return  to  the  settlements  until  he  had 
earned  the  skins  that  paid  his  debt. 

At  the  moment  when  the  big  colonial  hive  began 
to  swarm  Boone  led  a  party  of  thirty  frontiersmen 
to  cut  a  pack-trail  over  the  mountains  into  the  plains 
of  Kentucky.  This  wilderness  trail  —  some  two  hun- 
dred miles  of  mud-holes,  rocks  and  stumps  —  opened 
the  way  for  settlement  in  Kentucky,  a  dark  and  bloody 
ground,  for  white  invaders.  At  a  cost  of  two  or  three 
scalps  Boone's  outfit  reached  this  land,  to  build  a 
stockaded  village  named  for  the  leader,  Boones- 
borough,  and  afterward  he  was  very  proud  that  his 
wife  and  daughters  were  the  first  women  to  brave  the 
perils  of  that  new  settlement. 

Under  a  giant  elm  the  settlers,  being  British,  had 
church  and  parliament,  but  only  on  one  Stuiday  did 


DANIEL  BOONE 


37$ 


the  pinon  pray  for  King  George  before  the  news 
came  that  congreu  needed  prayers  for  the  new  re- 
public at  war  with  the  motherland. 

Far  to  the  northwest  of  Kentucky  the  forts  of 
Illinois  were  held  by  a  British  officer  named  Hamil- 
ton. He  had  with  him  a  handful  of  American 
Tories  loyal  to  the  king,  some  newly  con- 
quered French  Canadians  not  much  in  love  with 
British  government,  and  savage  Indian  tribes.  All 
these  he  sent  to  strike  the  revolting  colonies  in  their 
rear,  but  the  whole  brunt  of  the  horror  fell  upon  poor 
Kentucky.  The  settlements  were  wrecked,  the  log 
cabins  burned,  and  the  Indians  got  out  of  hand,  com- 
mitting crimes;  but  the  settlers  held  four  forts  and 
cursed  King  George  through  seven  years  of  war. 

It  was  in  a  lull  of  this  long  storm  that  Boone  led  a 
force  of  thirty  men  to  get  salt  from  the  salt-licks 
frequented  by  the  buffalo  and  deer,  on  the  banks  of 
Licking  River.  One  day  while  he  was  scouting  ten 
miles  from  camp,  and  had  just  loaded  his  horse  with 
meat  to  feed  his  men,  he  was  caught,  in  a  snow-storm, 
by  four  Shawnees.  They  led  him  to  their  camp 
where  some  of  the  hundred  warriors  had  helped  to 
capture  Boone  eight  years  before.  These,  with  much 
ceremony  and  mock  politeness,  introduced  him  to 
two  American  Tories,  a  brace  of  French  Canadians, 
and  their  Shawnee  chiefs.  Then  Boone  found  out 
that  this  war  party  was  marching  on  Fort  Bcones- 
borough  where  lived  his  own  wife  and  children  and 
many  women,  but  scarcely  any  men.  But  knowing 
the  ways  of  the  redskins  Boone  sav  that  if  he  let 
them  capture  his  own  men  in  cairr  le  salt-licks 

they    would    go    home    withoc    ai.:^.  ..  ig    Boones- 


2^6 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


borough.  He  must  risk  the  fighting  men  to  save  the 
fort;  he  must  guide  the  enemy  to  his  own  cai^p  and 
order  his  men  to  surrender;  and  if  they  laid  down 
all  their  lives  for  the  sake  of  their  women  and  chil- 
dren—well, they  must  take  their  chance.  Boone's 
men  laid  down  their  arms. 

A  council  followed  at  which  fifty-nine  Indians  voted 
to  burn  these  Americans  at  the  stake  against  sixty-one 
who  preferred  to  sell  them' to  Hamilton  as  prisoners  of 
war.  Saved  by  two  votes,  they  marched  on  a  winter 
journey  dreadful  to  the  Indians  as  well  as  to  the 
prisoners;  but  all  shared  alike  when  dogs  and  horses 
had  to  be  killed  for  food.  Moreover  the  savages  be- 
came so  fond  of  Boone  that  they  resolved  to  make  an 
Indian  of  him.  Not  wanting  to  be  an  Indian  he 
pleaded  with  Hamilton  the  Hair  Buyer,  promising  to 
turn  loyalist  and  fight  the  rebels,  but  when  the  British 
officer  offered  a  hundred  pounds  for  this  one  captive 
it  was  not  enough  for  these  loving  savages.  They 
took  Boone  home,  pulled  out  his  hair,  leaving  only  a 
fine  scalp-lock  adorned  with  feathers,  bathed  him 
in  the  river  to  wash  all  his  white  blood  out,  painted 
him,  and  named  him  Big  Turtle.  As  the  adopted  son 
of  the  chief,  Black  Fish,  Boone  pretended  to  hn 
happy,  and  in  four  months  had  become  a  popular 
chief,  rather  closely  watched,  but  allowed  to  go  out 
hunting.  Then  a  large  Indian  force  assembled  to 
march  against  Fort  Boonesborough. 

Boone  easily  got  leave  to  go  out  hunting,  and  a 
whole  day  passed  before  his  flight  was  known. 
Doubling  on  his  course,  setting  blind  trails,  wading 
along  the   streams  to  hide   his  tracks,   sleeping  in 


Daniel  Boone 


DANIEL  BOONE 


*n 


thicket*  or  in  hollow  logs,  starving  because  he  dared 
rrfire  a  gun  to  get  food,  his  clothes  m  rags  h.s  f<*t 
b^y.  he  made  his  way  across  country,  and  on  the 
fifth  day  suggered  into  Fort  B«>nesborough. 

The  enemy  were  long  on  the  way.  There  was 
tJe  to  s«d  riders  for  succor  and  scouts  to  watch. 
!  LL  Ae  fort  even  to  raid  the  Shawnee  country 
£frS.ei^vaSsIrrived-one  hundred  Canadians 

aTd  four  hundred  Indians,  while  Boone's  garrison 
Tulbered  fifty  men  and  boys,  with  twenty-five  brave 

"r  Hamilton's  orders  there  must  be  no  bloodshed, 
anfhe  ^"  forty  horses  for  the  old  ^olk^he  women 
and   chUdren  to  ride  on  their  way  northward  as 

%Tr;"s:/emTwas  Boone,  full  of  negotiations  for 
surrender,  gaining  day  after  day  wUh  talk,  -a^ng  m 
,  fever  for  expected  succor  from  the  colonies. 
Nine  Lmissio^s  on  either  side  were  to  sign  the 
trLtv  but  the  Indians -for  good  measure -sent 
eS>?e^-voys  to  clasp  the  hands  of  their  nme  v.h.te 
Sers.  and'drag  them  into  the  ^-h  f  or  «-uUon. 
The  white  commissioners  broke  loose,  gamed  the  fort, 
dammed  the  gates  and  fired  from  the  ramparts 

Long,  bitter  and  vindictive  was  the  siege.  A  pre- 
tend^ retreat  failed  to  lure  Boone's  nien  mto 
SbSh.  Ihe  Indians  dug  a  mine  under  the  walls 
wl«w  the  dirt  from  the  tunnel  into  the  nver  where 
TSZoi  muddy  water  gave  their  game  away. 
To^t^were  thrown  on  the  roofs,  but  women  put  out 
J^  ftwnes.  When  at  last  the  siege  was  raised  .^ 
2e  Sans  retreated,  twenty-four  hours  lapsed  b^ 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


fore  the  famished  garrison  dared  to  throw  open  their 
gates. 

In  these  days  a  Kentucky  force,  led  by  the  hero 
George  Rogers  Oark,  captured  the  French  forts  on 
the  Illinois,  won  over  their  garrisons,  and  marched 
on  the  fortress  of  Vincennes  through  flooded  lands, 
up  to  their  necks  in  water,  starving,  half  drowned. 
They  captured  the  wicked  Hamilton  and  led  him  away 
in  diains.  > 

Toward  the  -  m  of  the  war  once  more  a  British 
force  of  Frenchmen  and  Indians  raided  Kentucky, 
besieging  Logan's  fort,  and  but  for  the  valor  of  the 
women,  that  sorely  stricken  garrison  would  have 
perished.  For  when  the  tanks  were  empty  the 
women  took  their  buckets  and  marched  out  of  the 
gates,  laughing  and  singing,  right  among  the  ambushed 
Indians,  got  their  supply  of  water  from  the  spring, 
and  returned  unhurt  because  they  showed  no  fear. 

With  the  reliefs  to  the  rescue  rode  Daniel  Boone 
and  his  son  Israel,  then  aged  twenty-three.  At  sight 
of  reinforcements  the  enemy  bdted,  hotly  pursued  to 
the  banks  of  Licking  River.  Boone  implored  his 
people  not  to  cross  into  the  certainty  of  an  ambush, 
but  the  Kentuckians  took  no  notice,  charging  through 
the  river  and  up  a  ridge  between  two  bushed  ravines. 

From  both  flanks  the  Wyandots  charg^  wi^  toma- 
hawks, while  the  Shawnees  raked  the  horsemen  with  a 
galling  fire,  and  there  was  pitiless  hewing  down  of 
the  broken  flying  settlers.  Last  in  Aat  flight  came 
Boone,  bearing  in  his  arms  his  mortally  wounded  son, 
overtaken,  cut  off,  almost  surrounded  before  he 
struck  off  from  the  path,  leaping  from  rock  to  rock. 


DANIEL  BOONE 


279 


As  he  swam  the  river  Israel  died,  but  the  fathe" 
carried  his  body  on  into  the  shelter  of  the  forest. 

With  the  ending  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  the 
United  States  spread  gradually  westward,  and  to  the 
close  of  his  long  life  old  Daniel  Boone  was  ever  at 
the  front  of  their  advance,  taking  his  rest  at  last  be- 
yond the  Mississippi.  Ta-day  his  patient  and  heroic 
spirit  inspires  all  boys,  leads  every  frontiersman,  com- 
mands the  pioneers  upon  the  warrior  trails,  the  ax- 
hewn  paths,  the  wilderness  roads  of  marching  empire. 


XLI 

A.  D.  1813 

ANDREW  JACKSON 

THE  Nations  wert  playing  a  ball  game: 
"  Catch  1"  said  France,  throwing  the  ball  to 
Spain,  who  muffed  it.  "Qui>;k!"  cried  Napoleon, 
"or  England  will  get  it- catch  1"  "Caught!  said 
the  first  American  republic,  and  her  prize  was  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

Soon  afterward  the  United  States  in  the  name  of 
freedom  joined  Napoleon  the  Despot  at  war  with 
Great  Britain;  and  the  old  lion  had  a  wild  beast  fight 
against  a  world-at-arms.  In  our  search  for  great  ad- 
venture let  us  turn  to  the  warmest  corner  of  that 
world-wide  struggle,  poor  Spanish  Florida. 

Here  a  large  Indian  nation,  once  civilized,  but  now 
reduced  to  savagery,  had  taken  refuge  from  the 
Americans;  and  these  people,  the  Creeks  and  S«n- 
inoles,  fighting  for  freedom  themselves,  gave  shelter 
to  runaway  slaves  from  the  United  States.  A  few 
pirates  are  said  to  have  lurked  there,  and  sonic  Scot- 
tish gentlemen  lived  with  the  tribes  as  traders. 
Thanks  perhaps  to  them.  Great  Britain  armed  the 
Creeks,  who  ravaged  American  settlements  to  the 
north,  and  at  Fort  Minns  butchered  four  hundred 
xavo. 


ANDREW  JACKSON  aSi 

Northward  in  Tennessee  the  militia  were  com- 
manded by  Andrew  Jackson,  born  a  frontiersman,  but 
by  trade  a  lawyer,  a  very  valiant  man  of  high  renown, 
truculent  as  a  bantam. 

Without  orders  he  led  two  thousand,  five  hundred 
frontiersmen  to  avenge  Fort  Minns  by  chasing  the 
Spanish  governor  (in  time  of  peace)  out  of  Pensacola, 
and  a  British  garrison  from  Fort  Barrancas,  and  then 
(after  peace  was  signed)  expelled  the  British  from 
New  Orleans,  while  his  detachment  in  Florida  ble^ 
up  a  fort  with  two  hundred  seventy-five  refugees,  in- 
cluding the  women  and  children.  Such  was  the 
auspicious  prelude  to  Jackson's  war  with  the 
Creeks,  who  were  crushed  forever  at  the  battle  of 
Horseshoe  Bend. 


XUI 

A.  D.  1836 

SAM  h6uST0N 

SERVING  in  Jackson's  force  was  young  Sam  Hous- 
ton, a  hunter  and  a  pioneer  from  childhood.  Rather 
than  be  apprenticed  to  a  trade  he  ran  away  and 
joined  the  Cherokees,  and  as  the  adopted  son  of 
the  head  chief  became  an  Indian,  except  of  course 
during  the  holidays,  when  he  went  to  see  his  vtry 
respectable  mother.  On  one  of  these  visits  home  he 
met  a  recruiting  sergeant,  and  enlisted  for  the  y«ir  of 
1812  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  had  fought  his 
way  up  to  the  rank  of  ensign,  serving  with  General 
Andrew  Jackson  at  the  battle  of  Horseshoe  Bend. 

The  Creeks  held  a  line  of  breastworks,  and  the 
Americans  were  charging  these  works  when  an  arrow 
struck  deep  into  young  Houston's  thigh.  He  tried  to 
wrench  it  out  but  the  barb  held,  and  twice  his 
lieutenant  failed.  "  Try  again."  said  Houston,  and 
if  you  fail  ni  knock  you  down."  The  lieutenant 
pulled  out  the  arrow,  and  streaming  with  blood,  the 
youngster  went  to  a  surgeon  who  dressed  his  wound. 
General  Jackson  told  him  not  to  return  to  the  front, 
but  the  lad  must  needs  be  at  the  head  of  his  men,  no 

matter  what  the  orders. 

382 


SAM  HOUSTON 


383 


Hundreds  of  Creeki  had  fallen,  multitudes  were 
•hot  or  drowned  attempting  to  swim  the  river,  but 
stiU  a  large  party  of  them  held  a  part  of  the  breast- 
work, a  sort  of  roof  spanning  a  guUy,  from  which, 
through  narrow  port-holes,  they  kept  up  a  murderous 
fire.  Guns  could  not  be  placed  to  bear  on  this  posi- 
tion, the  warriors  flatly  refused  all  terms  of  sur- 
render, and  when  Jackson  called  for  a  forlorn  hope 
Houston  alone  responded.  Calling  his  platoon  to 
follow  him  he  scrambled  down  the  steep  side  of  the 
gully,  but  his  men  hesitated,  and  from  one  of  them 
he  seized  a  musket  with  which  he  led  the  way.  With- 
in five  yards  of  the  Creeks  he  had  turned  to  rally  his 
platoon  for  a  direct  charge  through  the  port-holes, 
when  two  bullets  struck  his  right  shoulder.  For  the 
last  time  he  implored  his  men  to  charge,  then  in 
despair  walked  out  of  range.  Many  months  went  by 
before  the  three  wounds  were  healed,  but  from  that 
time,  through  very  stormy  years  he  had  the  constant 
friendship  of  his  old  leader,  Andrew  Jackson,  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

Houston  went  back  to  the  West  and  ten  years  after 
the  battfe  was  elected  general  of  the  Tennessee  militia. 
Indeed  there  seemed  no  limit  to  his  future,  and  at 
thirty-five  he  was  governor  of  the  state,  when  his 
wife  deserted  him,  and  ugly  rumors  touched  his 
private  life.  Throwing  his  whole  career  to  the  winds 
he  turned  Indian,  not  as  a  chief,  but  as  Drunken 
Sam,  the  butt  of  the  Cherokees. 

It  is  quite  natural  for  a  man  to  have  two  characters, 
the  one  commanding  while  the  other  rests.  Within 
a  few  months  the  eyes  of  Houston  the  American 
statesman   looked    out    from    the   painted    face    of 


384 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Drunken  Sam,  the  savage  Cherokee.  From  Arkansas 
he  looked  southward  and  saw  the  American  fron- 
tiersmen, the  Texas  pioneers,  trying  to  earn  a  living 
under  the  comic  opera  government  of  the  Mexicans. 
They  would  soon  sweep  away  that  anarchy  if  only 
they  found  a  leader,  and  perhaps  Drunken  Sam  in  his 
dreams  saw  Samuel  Houston  leading  the  Texas  cow- 
boys. Still  dressed  as  a  (Cherokee  warrior  be  went 
to  Washington,  called  on  his  old  friend  President 
Jackson,  begged  for  a  job,  talked  of  the  liberation  of 
Texas  — as  if  the  yankees  of  the  North  would  ever 
allow  another  slave  state  of  the  South  to  enter  the 
Union! 

Houston  went  back  to  the  West  and  preached  the 
revolt  against  Mexico.  There  we  will  leave  him  for 
a  while,  to  take  up  the  story  of  old  Davy  Crockett 


XUII 


A.  D.  1836 

DAVY  CROCKETT 

P»AR  oflF  on  his  farm  in  Tennessee,  old  Davy 
•■•  Crodcett  heard  of  the  war  for  freedom.  Fifty 
years  of  hunting,  trapping  and  Indian  warfare  had 
not  quenched  his  thirst  for  adventure,  or  dulled  his 
love  of  fun;  but  the  man  had  been  sent  to  Washing- 
ton as  a  member  of  congress,  and  came  home  horri- 
fied by  the  corruption  of  political  life.  He  was  angry 
and  in  his  wrath  took  his  gun  from  over  the  iireplace. 
He  must  kill  something,  so  he  v/ert  for  those  Mexi- 
cans in  the  West. 

His  journey  to  the  seat  of  war  began  by  steamer 
down  the  Mississippi  River,  and  he  took  a  sudden 
fancy  to  a  sharper  who  was  cheating  the  passengers. 
He  converted  Thimblerig  to  manhood,  and  the  poor 
fellow,  like  a  lost  dog,  followed  Davy.  So  the  pair 
were  riding  through  Texas  vvhtn  they  met  a  bee 
hunter,  riding  in  search  of  wild  honey  —  a  gallant  lad 
in  a  splendid  deerskin  dress,  who  led  them  to  his 
home.  The  bee  hunter  must  join  Davy  too,  but  his 
heart  was  torn  at  parting  with  Kate,  the  girl  he  loved, 
and  he  turned  in  the  saddle  to  cheer  her  with  a  scrap 
of  song  for  farewell : 

a8s 


I 

el 
Iri' 


106 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


"  Stddled  and  bridled,  uid  booted  rode  he, 
A  phime  in  hit  helmet,  •  iword  «t  hit  knee." 

But  the  girl  took  up  the  verie,  her  tong  broken 
with  lobbing: 

"  But  toom'  c«n'  the  itddle,  ill  bluidy  to  tee, 
And  hune  cam'  the  iteed,  but  hame  never  cam  he. 

There  were  adventurek  on  the  way,  for  Davy 
hunted  buffalo,  fought  a  cougar  — knife  to  teeth  — 
and  pacified  an  Indian  tribe  to  get  passage.  Then 
they  were  joined  by  a  pirate  from  Lafitte's  wicked 
crew,  and  a  young  Indian  warrter.  So,  after  thrash- 
ing a  Mexican  patrol,  the  party  galloped  into  the 
Alamo,  a  Texan  fortress  at  San  Antonb. 

One  thousand  seven  hundred  Mexicans  had 
been  holding  that  fort,  until  after  a  hundred  and 
twenty  hours  fighting,  they  were  captured  by  two 
hundred  and  sixteen  Americans.  The  Lone  Star  flag 
on  the  Alamo  was  defended  now  by  one  hundred  and 
fifty  white  men. 

Colonel  Travis  commanded,  and  with  him  was 
Colonel  Bowie,  whose  broken  sword,  used  as  a  dagger, 
had  given  the  name  to  the  "  bowie  knife."  Crockett, 
with  his  followers,  Thimblerig,  the  bee  hunter,  the 
pirate  and  the  Indian,  were  warmly  welcomed  by  the 
garrison. 

February  twenty-third,  1836,  the  Mexican  president, 
Santa  Anna,  brought  up  seventeen  hundred  men  to 
besiege  the  Alamo,  and  Travis  sent  off  the  pirate  to 
ride  to  Goliad  for  help. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  the  bombardment  commenced, 
and  thirty  cowboys  broke  in  through  the  Mexican  lines 
to  aid  the  garrison. 


DAVY  CROCKETT  387 

On  the  f  enty-eighth,  here  i.  a  scrap  from  Davy'i 
private  dmy:  "The  settler,  are  flying  .  .  .  Sg 
their  pos«.SK,„,  to  the  mercy  of  the  ruthlew  invader 
...  slaughter  i.  mdiKriminate,  sparing  neither  age, 
^  nor  condition.  Buildings  have  been  bum^ 
down,  farms  la.d  waste  ...  the  enemy  draws  nigher 

On  the  twenty-ninth :  "  This  business  of  being  shut 
up  make,  a  man  wolfish -I  had  a  little  sport  this 
monimg  before  breakfast.  The  enemy  had  planted  a 
piece  of  ordnance  withm  gunshot  of  the  fort  during  the 
night  and  the  first  thing  in  the  morning  they  L,- 
menced  a  bnsk  cannonade  pointblank  against  the  spot 

Mounted  the  rempart.  The  gun  was  charged  again,  a 
fellow  stepped  forth  to  touch  her  off,  but  before  he 
could  apply  the  match  I  let  him  have  it,  and  he  keeled 

ttri;  ^  "TT  !*?^'^  "P-  '"'"^''•^  the  match  from 
the  hand  of  the  dying  man.  but  Thimblerig.  who  had 
followed  me,  h«,ded  me  his  rifle,  and  the  next  instant 

?«♦  T'^J""  "'"'•'"^  "P""  *h*  «'"''  «««de  the 
first  A  third  came  up  to  the  cannon,  my  companion 
handed  me  another  gun,  and  I  fixed  him  off  fa  like  - 
inanner^  A  fourth,  then  a  fifth  seized  the  match,  but 
^th  met  with  the  same  fate,  and  then  the  whole  ^ 
pve  rt  up  as  a  bad  job,  and  hurri«l  off  to  the  ^. 
is  V  t'*""°"  "^^  '*»'«"^  ^l-^"  they  had 
fo  hrll!  ■   /  "^-    *"^'  "^  ™y  hitters  and  went 

m  the  whole  fort,  for  he  never  failed  picking  off  two 
or  three  stra^ters  before  breakfast  " 
March  third.-"  We  have  given  over  dl  hope." 


a88  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTtJRE 

March  fourth.—"  Shells  have  been  falling  into  the 
fort  like  hail  during  the  day,  but  without  effect.     About 
dusk  in  the  evening  v»e  observed  a  man  running 
toward  the  fort,  pursued  by  about  a  dozen  Mexican 
cavalry.    The  bee  hunter  immediately  knew  hun  to 
be  the  old  hunter  who  had  gone  to  Goliad,  and  call- 
ing to  the  two  hunters,  he  sallied  out  to  the  relief  of 
the  old  man,  who  was 'hard  pressed.    I    followed 
dose  after.    Before  we  reached  the  spot  the  Mexi- 
cans were  close  on  the  heels  of  the  old  man  who 
stopped  suddenly,  turned  short  upon  his  pursuers,  dis- 
charged his  rifle,  and  one  of  the  enemy  fell  from  his 
horse.    The  chase  was  renewed,  but  finding  that  he 
would  be  overtaken  and  cut  to  pieces,  he  now  turned 
again,  and  to  the  amazement  of  the  enemy  became  the 
assaUant  in  turn.    He  clubbed  his  gun,  and  dashed 
among  them  like  a  wounded  tiger,  and  they  fled  like 
sparrows.    By  this  time  we  reached  the  spot,  and  in 
the  ardor  of  the  moment  followed  some  distance  be- 
fore we  saw  that  our  retreat  to  the  fort  was  cut  off 
by  another  detachment  of  cavalry.    Nothing  was  to 
be  done  but  to  fight  our  way  through.    We  were  all 
of  the  same  mind.    'Go  ahead!'  cried  I;  and  they 
shouted,  'Go  ahead.  Colonel  1'    We  dashed  among 
them,  and  a  bloody  conflict  ensued.    They  were  about 
twenty   in   number,   and   they   stood   their   ground. 
After  the  fight  had  continued  about  five  minutes  a 
deUchment  was  seen  issuing  from  the  fort  to  our  re- 
lief  and  the  Mexicans  scampered  off,  leaving  eight 
of  their  comrades  dead  upon  the  field.    But  we  did 
not  escape  unscathed,  for  both  the  pirate  and  the  bee 
hunter  were  mortally   wounded,  and   I   received  a 
saber  cut  across  the  forehead.    The  Old  roan  died 


DAVY  CROCKETT 


289 


without  speaking,  as  soon  as  we  entered  the  fort. 
We  bore  my  young  friend  to  his  bed,  dressed  his 
wounds,  and  I  watched  beside  him.  He  lay  without 
complaint  or  manifesting  pain  until  about  midnight, 
when  he  spoke,  and  I  asked  him  if  he  wanted  any- 
thing. 

"'Nothing,'  he  replied.  'Poor  Kate  I'  His  eyes 
filled  with  tears  as  he  continued :  '  Her  words  were 
prophetic,  Colonel,'  and  then  he  sang  in  a  low  voice. 

" '  But  toom'  cam'  the  saddle,  all  bluidy  to  see, 

And  hame  cam'  the  steed,  but  hame  never  cam'  he.' 

"He  spoke  no  more,  and  a  few  minutes  after,  died. 
Poor  Kate  I  who  will  tell  this  to  thee?" 

March  fifth :  "  Pop,  pop,  pop  I  Bom,  bom,  bom ! 
throughout  the  day  —  no  time  for  memorandums  now 
— go  ahead.    Liberty  and  independence  forever  I" 


So  ends  Davy's  journal.  Before  dawn  of  the  sixth 
a  final  assault  of  the  Mexican  force  carried  the  lost 
Alamo,  and  at  sunrise  there  were  only  six  of  the  de- 
fenders left  alive.  Colonel  Crockett  was  found  with 
his  back  to  the  wall,  with  his  broken  rifle  and  his 
bloody  knife.  Before  him  lay  Thiniblerig,  his  dag- 
ger to  the  hilt  in  a  Mexican's  throat,  his  death  grip 
fastened  in  the  dead  man's  hair. 

The  six  prisoners  were  brought  before  Santa  Anna, 
who  stood  surrounded  by  his  staff  amid  the  ruins. 
General  Castrillon  saluted  the  president.  "  Sir,  here 
are  six  prisoners  I  have  taken  alive ;  how  shall  I  dis- 
pose to  them  ? " 

"  Have  I  not  told  you  before  how  to  dispose  of 
them  —  why  do  you  bring  them  to  me  ?  " 


290  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

The  officers  of  the  staff  fell  upon  the  prisoners 
with  their  swords,  but  like  a  tiger  Davy  sprang  at 
Santa  Anna's  throat.  Then  he  fell  with  a  dozen 
swords  through  his  body. 

Up  with  your  banner,  Freedom. 

Thy  champions  cling  to  thee. 
Tbeyll  foUow  where'er  you  lead  'em  — 

To  death  or  victory. 
Up  with  your  bai^ner,  Freedom  I 

Tyrants  and  slaves  are  rushing 

To  tread  thee  in  the  dust ; 
Their  blood  will  soon  be  gushing 

And  stain  our  knives  with  rust. 
But  not  thy  banner.  Freedom  I 

While  Stars  and  Stripes  are  flying 

Our  blood  we'll  freely  shed; 
No  groan  will  'scape  the  dying. 

Seeing  thee  o'er  his  head. 
Up  with  your  banner,  Freedom  1 

Let  US  return  to  Sam  Houston.  His  life  of  cyclone 
passions  and  whirling  change  — a  white  boy  turned 
Indian,  then  hero  of  a  war  against  the  redskins; 
lawyer,  commander-in-chief  and  governor  of  a  state, 
a  drunken  savage,  a  broken  man  begging  a  job  at 
Washington,  an  obscure  conspirator  in  Texas  — had 
made  him  leader  of  the  liberators. 

Th<-  fan  of  the  Alamo  filled  the  Texans  wjth  fury, 
but  when  that  was  followed  by  the  awful  massacre  of 
Goliad  they  went  raving  mad.  Houston,  their  leader, 
waited  for  reinforcements  until  his  men  wanted  to 
murder  him,  but  when  he  marched  it  was  to  San  Ja- 
cinto where,  with  eight  hundred  Texans,  he  scattered 


DAVY  CROCKETT  291 

one  thousand  six  hundred  Mexicans,  and  captured 
Santa  Anna.  He  was  proclaimed  president  of  the 
Lone  Star  republic,  which  is  now  the  largest  star  in 
the  American  constellation. 


XLIV 

A.D.  1793 

ALEXANDER  MACKENZIE 

THE  very  greatest  events  in  huinan  annals  are 
those  which  the  historian  forgets  to  mention 
Now  for  example,  in  1638  U)uis  XIV  was  born;  he 
Scots  set  up  their  solemn  league  and  covenant    the 
T^ks  romped  into  poor  old  Bagdad  and  w.ped  out 
S  t^^and  Persians;  Van  Tromp  the  Dutchman 
v^hopped  a  Spanish  fleet ;  the  English  founded  Madras 
The  'rmer-stone  of  our  Indian  empire;  but  the  r^l 
event  of  the  year,  the  greatest  event  of    he  seven- 
teenth century,  was  the  hat  act  passed  by  the  Brrtish 
parliament.    Hatters  were  forbidden  to  make  any  hats 
'except  of  beaver  felt.    Henceforth,  for  two  c«>tunes 
sloud.  hats,  cocked  hats,  top  hats   all  sorts  of^haU 
were  to  be  made  of  beaver  fur  felt,  down  to  the  flat 
brimmed  Stetson  hat.  which  was  borrowed  fr<»n  the 
cowboys  by  the  Northwest  Mounted  Po'-.-'loP^jJ 
by  the  Irregular  Horse  of  the  Emp«e.  and  fina  y 
copied  in  rabbit   for  the  Boy   Scouts.    The  hatter 
r^u^bJy  beaver,  no  matter  what  the  cost,  so  Europe 
was  stripped  to  the  last  pelt.    Then  far  away  to  eas^ 
and  west  the  hunters  and  ^'^^^^'^jf^fjl^^, 
valley  to  valley.    The  traders  followed,  buildmg  forts 
39a 


ALEXANDER  MACKENZIE 


*93 


where  they  dealt  with  the  hunters  and  trappers,  ex- 
changing powder  and  shot,  traps  and  provisions,  for 
furs  at  so  much  a  "  castor  "  or  beaver  skin,  and  skins 
were  used  for  money,  instead  of  gold.  Then  came 
the  settlers  to  fill  the  discovered  lands,  soldiers  to 
guard  them  from  attack  by  savages,  judges  and  hang- 
men, flag  and  empire. 

The  Russian  fur  trade  passed  the  Ural  Hills,  ex- 
plored Siberia  and  crossed  to  Russian  America. 

Westward  the  French  and  British  fur  trade  opened 
up  the  length  and  breadth  of  North  America. 

By  the  time  the  hatter  invented  the  imitation 
"beaver,"  our  silk  hat,  this  mad  hat  trade  had 
pioneered  the  Russian  empire,  the  United  States  and 
the  Dominion  of  Canada,  belting  the  planet  with  the 
white  man's  power. 

Now  in  this  monstrous  adventure  the  finest  of  all 
the  adventurers  were  Scotch,  and  the  greatest  Scot 
of  them  all  was  Alexander  MacKenzie,  of  Stomoway, 
in  the  Scotch  Hebrides.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
landed  in  Montreal,  soon  after  Canada  was  taken  by 
the  British,  and  he  grew  up  in  the  growing  fur  trade. 
In  those  days  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  a 
sleepy  old  corporation  with  four  forts,  but  the  Nor*- 
westers  of  Montreal  had  the  aid  of  the  valiant  French 
Canadian  voyageurs  as  guides  and  canoe  men  in  the 
far  wilderness. 

Their  trade  route  crossed  the  upper  lakes  to 
Thunder  Bay  in  Lake  Superior,  where  they  built  Fort 
William;  thence  by  Rainy  River  to  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods,  and  Rat  Portage;  thence  up  Lake  Winnipeg 
to  the  Grand  Saskatchewan.  There  were  the  forts 
where  buffalo  hunters  boiled  down  pemmican,  a  sort 


294 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


of  pressed  beef  spiced  with  service  berries,  to  feed 
the  northern  posts.  Northward  the  long  trail,  by  lake 
and  river,  reached  i  la  Crosse,  which  gave  its 
name  to  a  famous  Indian  ball  game,  and  so  to  the 
source  of  the  Churchill  River  at  Lac  la  Loche,  from 
whence  the  Methye  portage  opened  the  way  into  the 
Great  Unknown. 

When  MacKenzie  reached  Qear-water  River,  Mr. 
Peter  Pond  of  the  Nor'westers  had  just  shot  Mr.  Ross 
of  the  X.  Y.  Company.  MacKenzie  took  charge,  and 
he  and  his  cousin  moved  the  trade  down  to  the  meet- 
ting  of  the  Athabasca  and  the  Peace,  at  an  inland 
sea,  the  Athabasca  Lake,  where  they  built  the  future 
capital  of  the  North,  Fort  Chipewyan.  From  here  the 
Slave  River  ran  down  to  Great  Slave  Lake,  a  second 
inland  sea  whose  outlet  was  unknown.  MacKenzie 
found  that  outlet  six  miles  wide.  The  waters  teemed 
with  wild  fowl,  the  bush  with  deer,  and  the  plains  on 
either  side  had  herds  of  bison. 

MacKenzie  took  with  him  four  French  vayagear*, 
•  German  and  some  Indians,  working  them  as  a  rule 
from  three  a.  m.  till  dusk,  while  they  all  with  one  ac- 
cord shied  at  the  terrors  ahead,  the  cataracts,  the 
savage  tribes,  the  certainty  of  ."itarvation.  The  days 
lengthened  until  there  was  no  night,  they  passed  coal 
fields  on  fire  which  a  hundred  years  later  were  still 
burning,  then  frozen  ground  covered  with  grass  and 
flowers,  where  the  river  parted  into  three  main 
branches  c^>emng  on  the  coast  of  an  ice-dad  sea.  The 
water  was  still  fresh,  but  there  were  seaweeds,  they 
saw  whales,  the  tides  would  wash  the  people  out  of 
camp,  for  ftis  was  the  Arctic  Ocean.  So  they  turned 
bade  up  that  great  river  which  bears  MacKenzie's 


ALEXANDER  MACKENZIE  295 

name,  six  thousand  miles  of  navigable  waters  drain- 
ing a  land  so  warm  that  wheat  wiU  ripen  on  the  Arctic 
circle,  a  home  for  millions  of  healthy  prosperous 
people  in  the  days  to  come. 

MacKenzie's  second  journey  was  much  more  diffi- 
cult, up  the  Peace  River  through  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tama,  then  by  a  portage  to  the  Eraser  Valley,  and 
down  Bad  River.    AU  the  rivers  were  bad,  but  the 
bu-ch  bark  canoe,  however  much  it  smashes,  can  be 
repaired  with  fresh  sheets  of  bark,  stuck  on  with 
gum  from  the  pine  trees.    Still,  after  their  canoe  was 
totally  destroyed  in  Bad  River  and  the  stock  of  bul- 
lets went  to  the  bottom,  the  Indians  sat  down  and 
wept,  while  the  Frenchmen,  after  a  square  meal  with 
a  lot  of  rum,  patched  up  the  wreck  to  go  on.    Far 
down  the  Fraser  Valley  there  is  a  meadow  of  tall 
grass  and  flowers  with  clumps  of  wild  fruit  orchard 
and  brier  rose,  gardens  of  tiger  lilies  and  goldenrod. 
Nobody  lived  there  in  my  time,  but  the  place  is  known 
as  Alexandria  in  memory  of  Alexander  Mackenzie  and 
of  the  only  moment  in  his  life  when  he  turned  back, 
beaten.    Below  Alexandria  the  Fraser  plunges  for 
two    hundred    miles    through    a    range    of    moun- 
tains in  one  long  roaring  swoop. 

So  the  explorers,  warned  by  friendly  Indians, 
climbed  back  up-stream  to  the  Blackwater  River;  and 
if  any  big  game  hunter  wants  to  shoot  mos- 
quitoes for  their  hides  that  valley  would  make  a 
first-class  hunting  ground.  The  journey  from  here  to 
the  coast  was  made  afoot  with  heavy  loads  by 
a  broad  Indian  trail  across  the  coast  range  to 
the  Bilthqula  River,  and  here  the  explorers  were  the 
guests  of   rich  powerful  tribes.    One  young  chief 


396 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


unclasped  a  splendid  robe  of  sea-oUer  skins,  and  threw 
it  around  MacKenzie,  such  a  gift  as  no  king  could 
offer  now.  They  feasted  on  salmon,  service  berries 
in  grease,  and  cakes  of  inner  hemlock  bark  sprinkled 
with  oil  of  salmon,  a  three-hour  banquet,  followed  by 
sleep  in  beds  of  furs,  and  blankets  woven  from  wool 
of  the  mountain  sheep.  The  houses  were  low-pitched 
bams  of  cedar,  each  large  enough  to  seat  several  hun- 
dred people,  and  at  the  gable  end  rose  a  cedar  pole 
carved  in  heraldic  sculpture  gaily  painted,  with  a  little 
round  hole  cut  through  for  the  front  door. 

Each  canoe  was  a  cedar  log  hollowed  with  fire,  then 
spread  with  boiling  water,  a  vessel  not  unlike  a  gon- 
dola. One  such  canoe,  the  Tillicum,  has  made  a  voy- 
age round  the  world,  but  she  is  small  compared  with 
the  larger  dugouts  up  to  seven  tons  burden.  An  old 
chief  showed  MacKenzie  a  canoe  forty-five  feet  in 
length,  of  four  foot  beam  painted  with  white  animals 
on  a  black  hull,  and  set  with  ivory  of  otter  teeth.  In 
this  he  had  made  a  voyage  some  years  before,  when  he 
met  white  men  and  saw  ships,  most  likely  those  of  the 
great  Captain  Cook.  MacKenzie's  account  of  the  na- 
tive doctors  describes  them  to  the  life  as  they  are  to- 
day. "They  blew  on  the  patient,  and  then  whistled; 
they  rubbed  him  vfelently  on  the  stomach ;  they  thrust 
their  forefingers  into  his  mouth,  and  spouted  water 
into  his  face."  MacKenzie,  had  he  only  waited, 
would  have  seen  them  jump  on  the  patient's  stomach 
to  drive  the  devils  out. 

He  borrowed  canoes  for  the  run  down  the  Bilthqula 
to  Salt  Water  at  the  head  of  one  of  British  Columbia's 
giant  fiords.  There  the  explorer  heard  that  only 
two  moons  ago  Captain  Vancouver's  boats  had  been 


ALEXANDER  MACKENZIE 


397 


in  the  inlet.  An  Indian  chief  must  have  been  rude, 
for  one  officer  fired  upon  him,  while  another  struck 
him  with  the  flat  of  a  sword.  For  this  the  chief 
must  needs  get  even  with  Alexander  MacKenae  as  he 
wandered  about  the  channels  in  search  of  the  open 
sea.  He  never  found  the  actual  Pacific,  but  made  his 
final  camp  upon  a  rock  at  the  entrance  of  Cascada 
inlet  Here  is  Vancouver's  description  of  the  place. 
"  The  width  of  the  channel  did  not  anywhere  exceed 
three-quarters  of  a  mile ;  its  shores  were  bounded  by 
precipices  much  more  perpendicular  than  any  we  had 
yet  seen  during  this  excursion ;  and  from  the  summits 
of  the  mountains  that  overlooked  it  .  .  .  there  fell 
several  large  cascades.  These  were  extremely  grand, 
and  by  much  the  most  tremendous  of  any  we  had  ever 
beheld." 

Those  cataracts,  like  lace,  fell  from  the  cornice 
glaciers  through  belt  after  belt  of  clouds,  to  crash 
through  the  lower  gloom  in  deafening  thunder  upon 
black  abysmal  channels.  The  eagles  swirl  and  circle 
far  above,  the  schools  of  porpoises  are  cleaving  and 
gleaming  through  the  white-maned  tide.  In  such  a 
place,  beset  by  hostile  Indians,  as  the  dawn  broke  the 
great  explorer  mixed  vermilion  and  grease  to  paint 
upon  the  precipice  above  him: 

"  Alexander  MacKenzie,  from  Canada  by  land  sand 
July.  I793-" 

He  had  discovered  one  of  the  world's  great  rivers, 
and  made  the  first  crossing  of  North  America. 


XLV 
THE  WHITE  MAN'S  COMING 

IT  is  our  plain  duty  here  to  Uke  up  the  story  of 
Vancouver,  an  English  merchant  seaman  from  be- 
fore the  mast,  who  rose  to  a  captaincy  in  the  royal 
navy,  and  was  sent  to  explore  the  British  Columbian 
coast.  He  was  to  find  "  the  StraiU  of  Anian  leadmg 
through  Meta  Incognita  to  the  Atlantic,"  the  famous 
Northwest  passage  for  which  so  many  hundreds  of 
explorers  gave  their  lives.  His  careful  survey  proved 
there  was  no  such  strait. 

Of  course  it  is  our  duty  to  follow  Vancouver  s  dull 
and  pompous  log  book,  and  show  what  savage  tribes 
he  met  with  in  the  wUds.  But  it  will  be  much  more 
fun  to  give  the  other  side,  the  story  of  Vancouver* 
visit  as  told  by  the  Indians  whose  awful  fate  it  was 
to  be  "  discovered  "  by  the  white  man  with  his  measles, 
his  liquor  and  his  smallpox. 

In  the  winter  of  1887-8  I  was  traveling  on  snow- 
shoes  down  the  Skeena  Valley  from  Gaat-a-maksk  to 
Gaet-wan-gak,  which  must  be  railway  stations  now  on 
the  Grand  Trunk  Pacific.  My  packer  was  Wilhe-the- 
Bear,  so  named  because  a  grizzly  had  eaten  off  half 
his  face,  the  side  of  his  face,  in  fact,  which  had  to  be 
covered  with  a  black  veil.  We  were  crossing  some 
low  hills  when  I  asked  him  about  the  cMnmg  of  the 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  COMING         agg 

white  men.    Promptly  he  told  me  of  the  iirtt  «h^- 
a  Spaniard;  the  second  —  Vancouver's ;  and  the  thira 
—  an  American,  all  in  correct  order  after  a  hrnin  ■^d 
years.    Who  told  him?    His  mother.    And  who  .old 
her?    Her  mother,  of  course. 

So,  living  as  I  was  among  the  Indians.  an<1  seeiii,» 
no  white  man's  face  for  months  on  end,  I  gathered 
up  the  various  memories  of  the  people. 

At  Massett,  on  the  north  coast  of  the  Quc<-.n 
Charlotte  Islands,  the  Haidas  were  e  mazed  by  a  great 
bird  which  came  to  rest  in  front  of  the  village. 
When  she  had  folded  her  wings  a  lot  of  little  birds 
shot  out  from  under  her,  which  came  to  the  beach 
and  turned  out  to  be  full  of  men.  They  were  as 
fair  of  color  as  the  Haidas,  some  even  more  so,  and 
some  red  as  the  meat  of  salmon.  The  people  went 
out  in  their  dugouts  to  board  the  bird,  which  was  a 
vast  canoe.  All  of  them  got  presents,  but  there  was 
one,  a  person  of  no  account,  who  got  the  finest  gift, 
better  than  anything  received  by  the  highest  chiefs, 
an  iron  cooking-pot. 

In  those  days  the  food  was  put  with  water  into  a 
wooden  trough  and  red-hot  stones  thrown  in  until  it 
boiled.  The  people  had  copper,  but  that  was  worth 
many  times  the  present  price  of  gold,  not  to  be  wasted 
on  mere  cooking  pots.  So  the  man  with  the  iron  pot, 
in  his  joy,  called  aU  the  people  to  a  feast,  and  gave 
away  the  whole  of  his  property,  which  of  course  was 
the  right  thing  to  do.  The  chiefs  were  in  a  rage  at 
his  new  importance,  but  they  came,  as  did  every  one 
else.  And  at  the  feast  the  man  of  no  account  climbed 
the  tell  pole  in  front  of  his  house,  the  totem  pole 
carved  with  the  arms  of  his  ancestors,  passing  a  rop. 


300  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

over  the  top  by  which  he  hauled  up  the  iron  pot  so 
that  it  might  be  seen  by  the  whole  tribe.  "  See,"  he 
said,  "what  the  great  chief  has  given  me,  the  Big 
Spirit  whose  people  have  toils  sti«E  as  a  beaver  tail 
behind  their  heads,  whose  canoe  is  loaded  with  thunder 
and  lightning,  the  mother  of  all  canoes,  with  six  young 
canoes  growing  up,  whose  medicine  is  so  strong  that 
one  dose  makes  you  sick,  for  three  days,  whose  war- 
riors are  so  brave  that  one  got  two  black  eyes  and  did 
not  run  away,  who  have  a  little  dog  which  scratches 
and  says  meaoul 

"  This  great  chief  has  given  us  presents  according 
to  our  rank,  little  no-account  presents  to  the  common 
people;  but  when  I  came  he  knew  I  was  his  brother, 
his  equal,  and  to  me,  to  me  alone,  he  gave  this  pot 
which  sits  upon  the  fire  and  does  not  bum,  this  pot 
which  boils  the  water,  and  will  not  break!" 

But  as  the  man  bragged  he  kept  twitching  the  rope, 
and  down  fell  the  pot,  smash  on  the  ground,  and 
broken  all  to  pieces. 

Now  as  to  the  first  white  man  who  came  up  Skeena 

^i^^f-  .       ,  .   .    . 

A  very  old  man  of  Kitzelash  remembered  that  when 

he  was  a  boy  he  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  canon  and 

there  came  a  canoe  with  a  white  man,  a  big  chief 

called  Manson,  a  Spaniard,  and  a  black  man,  all 

searching  for  gold.    He  remembered  that  first  one 

man  sang  a  queer  song  and  then  they  all  took  it  up 

and  sang,  laughing  together. 

A  middle-aged  man  of  Gaet-wan-gak  remembered 

that  in  his  childhood  a  canoe  came  up  the  river  full  of 

Indians,  and  v/ith  two  white  men.    Nobody  had  ever 

seen  the  like,  and  they  took  the  strangers  for  ghosts, 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  COMING         301 

«o  that  the  women  ran  away  and  hid.  The  ghosts 
gave  them  bread,  but  they  spat  it  out  because  it  was 
ghost  food  and  had  no  taste.  They  oflfered  tea,  but 
the  people  spat  it  out,  because  it  was  like  earth  water 
out  of  graves.  Rice,  too,  they  would  not  touch,  for 
it  was  like  — perhaps  one  should  not  say  what  that 
was  like. 


XLVI 

THE  BEAVER 

TN  the  heart  of  the  city  of  Victoria  1  once  found  an 
1  old  log  bam,  the  last  remnant  of  Fort  Camosun, 
and  clin.bing  into  the  loft,  kicked  about  m  a  h^p  of 
rubbish  from  which  emerged  some  damp  rat-gnawed 
manuscript  books.  From  morning  to  evenmg,  and 
far  into  the  dusk,  I  sat  reading  there  the  story  of  a 
great  adventuress,  a  heroine  of  tonnage  and  dis^ace- 
ment,  the  first  steamer  which  ever  plied  on  the  Pacrfic 

H^'  builders  were  Messrs.  Boulton  and  Watt,  and 
Watt  was  the  father  of  steam  navigation.  She  was 
built  at  Blackwall  on  London  River  in  the  days  of 
Georee  IV.  She  was  launched  by  a  duchess  m  a 
poke  bonnet  and  shawl,  who  broke  a  bottle  of  wme 
^inst  the  ship's  nose  and  christened  her  he 
Beaver.  Then  the  merchant  adventurers  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  bell  toppers,  Hessian  boots 
and  white  chokers,  gave  three  hearty  cheers. 

The  Bewer  was  as  ugly  as  it  was  safe  to  make 
her  but  built  of  honest  oak,  and  copper  bolted,  her 
en^nes  packed  in  the  hold,  and  her  masts  brigantme- 
rigged  for  the  sailing  voyage  round  Cape  Horn. 
^:  went  under  convoy  of  the  barque  ColumUa 
a  slow  and  rather  helpless  chaperon,  who  fouled  and 
30a 


THE  BEAVER 


303 


nearly  wrecked  her  at  Robinson  Crusoe's  Island.  Her 
master,  to  judge  by  the  shqj's  books,  was  a  peppery 
little  beast,  who  logged  the  mate  for  a  liar:  "Not 
correct  D.  Home ;"  drove  his  officers  until  they  went 
sick,  quarreled  with  the  Columbia's  doctor,  found 
his  chief  engineer  "in  a  beastly  state  of  intoxica- 
tion," and  finally,  at  the  Columbia  River,  hounded  his 
crew  into  mutiny. 

"  Mr.  Phillips  and  Mr.  Wilson  behaved,"  says  the 
mate,  "  in  a  most  mutinous  manne/."  So  the  cap- 
Utn  had  all  hands  aft  to  witness  their  punidunent  with 
the  cat-o'-nine-tails.  Phillips  called  on  the  crew  to 
rescue  him,  and  they  went  for  the  c^)Uin.  Calling 
for  bis  sword,  the  skipper  defended  himself  like  a 
man,  wounding  one  seaman  in  the  head.  Then  he 
"  succeeded  in  tying  up  Phillips,  and  punishmg  hira 
with  two  dozen  lashes  with  a  rope's  end  over  his 
clothes,"  whereupon  William  Wilson  denanded  eleven 
strokes  for  himself,  so  sharing  the  fun,  for  better  or 
worse,  with  a  shipmate. 

Fort  Vancouver,  on  the  Columbia  River,  an  old 
stockade  of  the  Nor'westers,  was  at  Ais  time  the 
Hudswi's  Bay  Company's  capital  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
where  reigned  the  great  Doctor  McLauchlan,  founder 
of  Oregon.  Here  the  Beaver  shipped  her  paddles, 
started  up  her  engines,  and  gave  an  excursion  trip  for 
the  ladies.  So  came  her  voyage  under  steam  out  in 
the  open  Pacific  of  eight  hundred  miles  to  her  station 
on  the  British  Columbian  coast.  She  sailed  on  the  last 
day  of  May  In  1836,  two  years  before  the  Atlantic  was 
crossed  under  steam.  On  the  Vancouver  coast  she 
discovered  an  outcrop  of  steam  coal,  still  the  best  to 
be  had  on  the  Pacific  Ocean. 


ji«  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

In  her  days  of  g^ofy,  Ae  Beaver  was  a  smart 
little  war-ship  trading  with  the  savages,  or  branbard- 
ing  their  villages,  all  the  way  from  Puget  Sound  to 
Alaska.  In  her  middle  age  she  was  a  survey  vessd 
exploring  Wonderland.  In  her  old  age  the  boiler 
leaked,  so  that  the  engineer  had  to  plug  the  h<rfes 
with  a  rag  on  a  pointed  stick.  She  was  a  grimy  tog 
at  the  last,  her  story  fprgotten;  and  after  fifty-two 
years  of  gallant  service,  was  allowed  to  lie  a  weed- 
grown  wreck  within  a  mile  of  the  newN  City  of  Van- 
couver, until  a  kindly  storm  gave  her  the  honor  of 
sea  burial. 

It  was  in  1851  that  the  Beaver  brought  to  the 
factor  at  Fort  Simpson  some  nuggets  of  the  newly 
discovered  Califomian  gold.  At  first  he  refused  to 
take  the  stuff  in  trade,  next  bought  it  in  at  half  its 
value,  and  finally  showed  it  to  Edenshaw,  head  chief 
of  the  Haida  nation.  As  each  little  yellow  pebble 
was  worth  a  big  pile  of  blankets,  the  chief  borrowed  a 
specimen  and  showed  it  to  his  tribe  in  the  Queen 
Charlotte  Islands. 

There  is  a  legend  that  in  earlier  days  a  trader  found 
the  Haidas  using  golden  bullets  with  their  trade  guns, 
which  they  gladly  exchanged  for  lead.  Anyway  an 
old  woman  told  Edenshaw  that  she  knew  where  to 
find  the  stuff,  so  next  day  she  took  hun  in  a  small 
dugout  canoe  to  the  outer  coast.  There  she  showed 
him  a  streak  seven  inches  wide,  and  eighty  feet  in 
length,  of  quartz  and  shining  gold,  which  crossed  the 
neck  of  a  headland.  They  filled  a  bushel  basket  with 
loose  bits,  and  left  them  in  the  canoe  while  they  went 
back  for  more.  But  in  the  stem  of  the  canoe  sat 
Edenshaw'*  little  son  watching  the  dog  fish  at  play 


THE  BEAVER 


305 


down  in  the  deeps.  When  the  eMeri  came  back 
Charhe  had  thrown  their  first  load  of  gM  at  the  doK 
fish  and  later  on  in  life  he  well  remembered  the 
hands  of  blessmg  laid  on  by  way  of  reward. 

Stai,  enough  gold  wm  saved  to  buy  many  bales  of 
blankets.    Edenshaw  claimed  afterward  that,  had  he 

only  kno«m  the  wtae  of  W.  i»4.  he  wouM  have  gone 
to  England  and  aurried  t]ie  qu««'s  dMghler 

News  spread  along  the  coast  and  «»n  a  sin*  ao- 
peared,  the  H.  B.  C.  brigantine  Una.  Her^Ute 
blasted  the  rocks,  while  the  Indians,  naM  andwS 
oiled,  grabbed  the  plunder.  The  sailors  wreslfad  hm 
could  not  hold  those  oily  rogues.  In  time  the  Una 
sailed  with  a  load  of  gold,  but  was  cast  away  with  her 
cargo  m  the  Straits  of  Fnca. 

Next  year  Gold  Harbor  was  full  of  little  ships 
with  a  gunboat  to  keep  them  in  order  while  they 
reaped  a  total  harvest  of  two  hundred  eighty-nine 
thousand  dollars.    H.  M.  S.  Theti,  had  gone  away 
when     the     schooner     Susan    SlurgU     came     back 
for  a  second  load,  the  only  vessel  to  brave  the  winter 
storms.    One    day    while    all    hands    were    in     the 
cabm  at  dinner  the  Indians  stole  on  board,  clapped 
on    the    hatches    and    made    them    prisoners     They 
were    marched    ashore    and    stripped    in    the    deep 
snow,  pleading  for  their  drawers,  but  only  Captain 
Kooney  and  the  mate  were  allowed  that  luxury     The 
seamen  were  sold  to  the  H.  B.  Company  .t  Fort'simp- 
son,  but  the  two  officers  remained  in  slavery.    By  day 
they    chopped    fire-wood    under    a    guard,    at    night 
crouched  in  a  dark  corner  of  a  big  Indian  house,  out 
of  sight  of  the  fire  in  the  middle,  fed  on  such  scraps 
01   oaal   as   their  masters   deigned   to   throw   them 


I 


306  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Only  one  poor  old  woman  pitied  the  slaves,  hiding 
Kany  a  dried  clam  under  the  matting  within  their 
reach.    Also  they  made  »  friend  of  Chief  Bearskin's 
son-  and  Bearskin  himself  was  a  good-hearted  man, 
though  Edenshaw  proved  a  brute.    Rooney  was  an 
able-bodied  Irishman,  Lang  a  tall  bro«l-shouldered 
Scot,  though  this  business  turned  his  hair  gray.    For 
after  the  schooner  was  plundered  and  broken  up,  a 
dispute  arose  between  Bearskin  and  Edenshaw  as  to 
their  share  of  the  captives.    Edenshaw  would  kill 
Lang  rather  than  surrender  him  to  Bearskm,  and 
twice  the  Scotchman  had  his  head  on  the  block  to  be 
chopped  off  before  Bearskin  gave  in  to  save  his  life. 
At  last  both  slaves  were  sold  to  Captain  McNeill,  who 
gave  them  each  a  striped  shirt,  corduroy  trousers  and 
shoes,  then  shipped  them  aboard  the  Beaver.    Now  it 
so   happened   that   on   the    passage    southward   the 
Beaver  met  with  the  only  accident  in  her  long  life,  for 
during  a  storm  the  steering  gear  was  carried  away. 
Lang  was  a  ship's  carpenter,  and  his  craftsmanship 
saved  the  little  heroine  from  being  lost  with  all  hands 
that  night.    This  rescued  slave  became  the  pioneer 
ship-builder  of  Western  Canada. 


XLVII 

A.D.  1911 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  POLES 

-pHE  North  Pole  is  only  a  point  on  the  earth's  ,ur- 
,,  ««.  a  point  which  in  itsdf  has  no  iJ^l 
breadth  or  height,  neither  has  it  weight  nor "n^S' 
stance  bemg  invisible,  impalpable,  immovable  id 
entirely  use  ess.  The  continents  of  n,en  swing  ,Tt 
thousand  miles  an  hour  round  that  poim.  SLi^ 
no  motion.  Beneath  it  an  eternal TieTdi^^ 
WsroXh?^""^^'^°'"^^<>«P^-^»-'l2 

m,!^"!'.  ^°'  '■  "^''*  °^  '"  "O"**.  the  pole  star 

S  t  tl  rr  """'  "•■'"*  ^''^  coJ:.atiS 
swing  their  endless  race;  then  for  six  m«mths  the 

low  sun  rolls  along  the  sky-line  on  his  le^^^ound*- 
and  each  day  and  night  are  one  year  * 

oiilT^^u'^T^  *''"*  P"'"'  ^e^^  i"  the  reign 
of  Henry  VIII  of  England,  when  Master  John  dS 

sailed  up  the  Greenland  coast  to  a  big  cliff  whiS.  he 
named  after  his  becker.  Sanderson's  Hoje  t£ 
deH  f  '.  v'.^'""  '"'  ^^^  ""-^^  "^"-^nd  four  hun! 

to  l,mm>''''T' """  °"^  ^'-''^  ''-^'^  °f  '«  from  base 
to  summit.  It  towers  above  Upernivik  the  mn« 
northerly  village  in  the  world,  and  i  "ne  thournd 
one  hundred  tw.nty-eight  miles  from  thT  Pole 

am 


3oB  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

In  ,504  Barenti  carried  the  Dutch  flag  a  IMe 
farther  north  but  soon  Hudso>.  gave  the  lead  back  to 
Gr«t  Britain,  and  after  that,  for  V,  .  hundred  sev«^ 
six  years  the  British  flag  ""*="  "'^r^^.^^Cj^j'Tt 
victory  to  victory  in  the  conq,'..  °t '^'/.^T  c,,i 
Sin  .882  Lieutenant  Greely  of  the  United  States 
ArLi  beat  us  by  four  miles  at  a  cost  of  nearly  h.s 
i™le  «pedition.  which  was  destroyed  by   fan,.ne 
Ln  Doctor  Nansen  br6ke  the  American  record    or 
^^ay  to  be  beaten  in  turn  by  an  Italian  prmce.  the 
Duke  d'Abruzii.    But  meanwhile  Peary,  an  Amer- 
Lt  naval   oflicer,   had   commenced   bis   wonderful 
course  of  twenty-three  years'  specif  tram.ng;  and  m 
1^,6  he  broke  the  Italian  record.    H.s  way  was  afoot 
IS   dog-trains    across    the   ice   of   the    Polar   sea. 
^d    he    would    have    reached    the     Nojth     Pole. 
";  fo.  wide  lanes  of  open  sea.  completely  barrmg  the 
wav     At  two  hundred  twenty-seven  miles  from  the 
Pole  he  was  forced  to  retreat,  and  camp  very  near  to 
death  before  he  won  back  to  his  base  camp. 

Pe«y's  ship  was  American  to  the  last  detail  of 
«edle7and  thread,  but  the  vessel  was  bis  own  inv«i- 
tion.  built  for  ramming  ice-pack.  The  f^rf*"" 
and  crew  were  all  Newfoundlanders,  trained  from 
Sh^  in  the  seal  fishery  of  the  Labrador  ice-pack^ 
T^v  were  alasl  British,  but  that  could  not  be 
S^.  To  make  amends  the  exploring  officers  were 
>^cans.  but  they  were  specially  trained  by  Peary 
r^e^d  travel  as  Eskimo  using  the  native  dress, 
the  doe-trans  and  the  snow  houses. 

(Sr  exptorers  had  don.  the  same,  but  Peary  wen 
ft^her.    for   he   hired    the    most   "ortheriy    of    the 
Eddmo  tribes,  and  from  7^  *«  y^  «*«^»**^  "** 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  POLES      309 

?i^!!  °V'"u'^^t'.  '*'"'  «"**  "P  '°  '■'«'"-d  him  as  a 
tather,  to  obey  hn  orders  exactly,  and  to  adopt  his 
improvements  -.  their  native  methods.  So  he  had 
hunting  parties  to  store  up  vast  supplies  of  meat,  and 

wa  rus,  each  for  some  specul  need  in  the  way  of 
clothmg.  He  had  women  to  make  the  clothes.  He 
had  two  hundred  fifty  huskie  dogs,  sleds  of  his  own 
device,  and  Esk.mo  working  parties  under  his  white 
officers.  In  twenty-three  years  he  found  out  how  to 
boU  tea  m  ten  minutes,  and  that  one  detail  saved 
nmety  mmutes  a  day  for  actual  marching -a  margin 
.n  case  of  accident.    Add  to  all  that   Peary'Tow" 

mg,    ust  at  the  prmie  of  life.    He  was  so  hardened 

with  one  Idea,  one  motive  in  life,  one  hope  J 
hat  of  reachmg  the  Pole.  U,ng  hou«  before  any- 
tnng  went  wrong  an  mstinct  would  awaken  him  out  of 

Sai^ty      *  *°  '°°''  °"'  ^"^  *'°""'  *"'•  »^«rt 

th.\f!T  *\u'  f^P  ^"'  '''°*  ''°*  Greenland,  and 
the  islands  nortfi  of  Canada,  reach  to  within  four  hun 

nl  th^  .1'''  °''''*'  '  P^"^''  *™"Kh  that  chan- 
nel, then  turned  to  the  left,  creeping  and  dodging  be- 
ween  the  ice-field  and  the  coast  of  Grant  Land  Cat 
Urn  Bartlett  was  in  the  crow's-nest,  piloting,  a„^ 
2^\t°'"^'°:  ''•"'  «='""«  *«  '''^  "''"ding  riggbg 
through  the  floes.  Bartlett  would  coax  and  wheedle 
or  shout  at  the  ship  to  encourage  her,  "Rip  -^^ 


3X0  CAFTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Ted<ly!    Bite  'em  in  two!    Go  it  1    That',  fine,  my 
tvautvl    Now  again  1    Once  morel" 

mo  knows?  In  the  hand,  of  a  great  seaman  like 
Bartlrtt  a  ship  seems  to  be  a  living  creature,  and  no 
^aSSwhat  slued  the  Roosevelt  she  had  a  funou 
habit  of  her  own.  coming  to  rest  wUh  her  nose  to  Ac 
north  for  all  the  world  like  a  compas  .  Her  way  was 
finally  blocked  just  seventy-five  m. les  short  of  he 
most  northerly  headland.  Cape  Columbia,  and  the 
I«s  hid  to  be  carried  there  for  the  advanced  b^s. 
The  winter  was  spent  in  preparation,  and  on  March 
first  began  the  dash  for  the  Pole. 

No  party  with  dog-trains  could  possibly  carry  pro- 
visions  f^a  return  journey  of  eight  hundred  miles^ 
If  there  had  been  islands  on  the  route  it  would  have 
been  the  right  thing  to  use  them  as  advanced  bases  for 
Tfinal  rush  to  the  Pole.    But  there  were  no  islands 
and  it  would  be  too  risky  to  leave  stores  upon  the 
shifting    ice-pack.    There    was.    therefore    but    one 
SL  possible.    Doctor  Goodsell  marched  from  the 
r^Tto  Camp  A.  unloaded  his  stores  and  returned^ 
Using  the  stores  at  Camp  A,  Mr.  Borup  was  aWe  to 
march  to  Camp  B.  where  he  unleaded  and  turned  back 
W*  the  store's  at  Camp  B.  Prof  essor  Marvin  mar^d 
to  Camp  C  and  turned  back.    With  the  stores  at  Camp 
S^tein  Bartlett  marched  to  Camp  D  and  >ur"ed 
tack.    With  the  Stores  at  Camp  ^  Peary  had  his  *1<^ 
fully  loaded,  with  a  selection,  besides,  of  the  fittest 
m  J  and  dogs  for  the  last  lap  of  the  journey,  and 
above  all  not  too  many  mouths  to  feed. 

It  was  a  clever  scheme,  and  in  theory  the  officers, 
turned  back  with  their  Eskimo  parties,  were  needed  to 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  POLES      311 

pUot  them  to  the  coast.  All  the  natives  got  back 
•afely,  but  Professor  Marvin  was  drowned.  If  Peary 
had  not  sent  all  his  officers  back,  would  he  have  been 
playing  the  game  in  leaving  his  Eskimo  parties  without 
navigating  officers  to  guide  them  in  the  event  of  a 
storm  ?  There  is  no  doubt  that  his  conduct  was  that 
of  a  wise  and  honorable  man.  But  the  feeling  re- 
mains —  was  it  sportsman-like  to  send  Captain  Bartlett 
back  — the  one  man  who  had  done  most  for  his  suc- 
cess, denied  any  share  in  the  great  final  triumph? 
Bartlett  made  no  complaint,  and  in  his  cheery  accept- 
ance of  the  facts  cut  a  better  figure  than  even  Com- 
mander Peary. 

With  his  negro  servant  and  four  Eskimos,  the  leader 
set  forth  on  the  last  one  hundred  thirty-three  miles 
across  the  ice.  It  was  not  plain  level  ice  like  that  of 
a  pond,  but  heaved  into  sharp  hills  caused  by 
the  pressure,  with  broken  cliflfs  and  labyrinthine 
reefs.  The  whole  pack  was  drifting  southward  be- 
fore the  wind,  here  breaking  into  mile-wide  lanes 
of  black  and  foggy  sea,  there  newly  frozen  and 
utterly  unsafe.  Although  the  sun  did  not  set,  the 
frost  was  sharp,  at  times  twenty  and  thirty  degrees 
below  zero,  while  for  the  most  part  a  cloudy  sky  made 
it  impossible  to  take  observations.  Here  great  good 
fortune  awaited  Peary,  for  as  he  neared  the  Pole,  the 
sky  cleared,  giving  him  brilliant  sunlight.  By  observ- 
ing the  sun  at  frequent  intervals  he  was  able  to  reckon 
with  his  instruments  until  at  last  he  found  himself 
within  five  miles  of  ninety  degrees  north  —  the  Pole. 
A  ten-mile  tramp  proved  he  had  passed  the  apex  of  the 
earth,  and  five  miles  back  he  made  the  final  tests. 


MKtOCOrr  MSOUITION  TBI  CHAIT 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


|2£ 


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Li 

■  22 

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A  APPLIED  irvHGE     Ine 

a^^  1653  Eo»t  Main  Street 

^.a  Ri>ch«t«r,   Naw  York         14609       USA 

■^=  {'16)   *82  -  0300  -  Phon* 

^S  (^'B)   266- 5989 -Fm 


313  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Somewhere  within  a  mile  of  where  he  stood  wa? 
the  exact  point,  the  north  end  of  the  axis  on  which 
the  earth  revolves.  As  nearly  as  he  could  reckon, 
the  very  point  was  marked  for  that  moment  upon  the 
drifting  ice-field  by  a  berg-like  hiU  of  ice,  and  on  this 
summit  he  hoisted  the  flag,  a  gift  from  his  wife  which 
he  had  carried  for  fifteen  years,  a  tattered  silken  rem- 
nant of  Old  Glory. 

"Perhaps,"    he   writes,    "it    ought   not   to   have 
been  so,  but  when  I  jcnew  for  a  certaiiity  that  I 
had  reached  the  goal,  there  was  not  a  thing  in  the 
world  I  wanted  but  sleep.    But  after  I  had  a  few 
hours  of  it,  there  succeeded  a  condition  of  mental 
exaltation  which  made  further  rest  impossible.    For 
more  than  a  score  of  years  that  point  on  the  earth's 
surface  had  been  the  object  of  my  every  effort.    To 
obtain  it  my  whole  being,  physical,  mental  and  moral, 
had  been  dedicated.    The  determination  to  reach  th* 
Pole  had  become  so  much  a  part  of  my  being  that, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  I  long  ago  ceased  to  think  of 
myself  save  as  an  instrument  for  the  attainment  of 
that  end.  .  .  .  But  now  I  had  at  last  succeeded  in 
planting  the  flag  of  my  country  at  the  goal  of  the 
world's  desire.    It  is  not  easy  to  write  about  such  a 
thing,  but  I  knew  that  we  were  going  back  to  civiliza- 
tion with  the  last  of  the  great  adventure  stories  — a 
story  the  world  had  been  waiting  to  hear  for  nearly 
four  hundred  years,  a  story  which  was  to  be  told  at 
last  under  the  folds  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  the  flag 
that  during  a  lonely  and  isolated  life  had  CMne  to  be 
for  me  the  symbol  of  home  and  everything  I  loved— 
and  might  never  see  again." 
Here  is  the  record  left  at  the  North  Pole:  — 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  POLES      313 

"90N.  Lat.,  North  Pole, 
«T  1.       .    ^      .  .  "April  6th,  1909. 

I  have  to-day  hoisted  the  national  ensign  of  the 
United  States  of  America  at  this  place,  which  my  ob- 
serrations  mdicate  to  be  the  North  Polar  axis  of  the 
earth,  and  have  formally  taken  possession  of  the  en- 
tire region,  and  adjacent,  for  and  in  the  name  of  the 
president  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

"I  leave  this  record  and  United  States  flag  in  posses- 
sion. '^ 

"Robert  E.  Peary, 

"United  States  Navy." 

Before  the  hero  of  this  very  grand  adventure  re- 
turned to  the  worW.  there  also  an-ived  from  the 
Arctic  a  certain  Doctor  Cook,  an  American  traveler 
who  claimed  to  have  reached  the  Pole.  The  Danish 
Colony  in  Greenland  received  him  with  joy  the 
Danish  Geographical  Society  welcomed  him  with  a 
banquet  of  honor,  and  the  world  rang  with  his  triumph. 
Then  came  Commander  Peary  out  of  the  North,  pro- 
claiming  that  this  rival  was  a  liar.  So  Doctor  Cook 
was  able  to  strike  an  attitude  of  injured  innocence, 
hmtmg  that  poor  old  Peary  was  a  fraud;  and  the 
world  rocked  with  laughter. 

In  England  we  may  have  envied  the  glory  that 
Peary  had  so  bravely  won  for  his  flag  and  country, 
but  knew  his  record  too  well  to  doubt  his  honor,  and 
welcomed  his  triumph  with  no  ungenerous  thoughts. 
The  other  claimant  had  a  record  of  impudent  and 
amusmg  frauds,  but  still  he  was  entitled  to  a  hearine 
and  fair  judgment  of  hU  claim  from  men  of  science 
Among  sportsmen  we  do  not  expect  the  runners,  after 


Hi 


314  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

a  race,  to  call  one  another  liars,  and  were  sorry  that 
Peary  should  for  a  moment  lapse  from  the  dignity 
expected  of  brave  men. 

It  is  perhaps  ungenerous  to  mention  such  trifling 
points  of  conduct,  and  yet  we  worship  heroes  only 
when  we  are  quite  sure  that  our  homage  is  not  a  folly. 
And  so  we  measure  Peary  with  the  standard  set  by  his 
one  rival,  Roald  Amundsen,  who  conquered  the  North- 
west passage,  then  addend  to  that  immortal  triumph 
the  conquest  of  the  South  Pole.    In  that  Antarctic 
adventure  Amundsen  challenged  a  fine  British   ex- 
plorer.  Captain  Scott.    The  British  expedition  was 
equipped  with  every  costly  appliance  wealth  could  fur- 
nish, and  local  knowledge  of  the  actual  route.    The 
Norseman  ventured  into  an  unknown  route,  scantily 
equipped,  facing  the  handicap  of  poverty.    He  won 
by  sheer  merit,  by  his  greatness  as  a  man,  and  by  the 
loyal  devotion  he  earned  at  the  hands  of  his  comrades. 
Then  he  returned  to  Norway,  they  say,  disguised  under 
an  assumed  name  to  escape  a  public  triumph,  and  his 
one  message  to  the  worid  was  a  generous  tribute  to 
his  defeated  rival.    The  modern  world  has  no  greater 
hero,  no  more  perfect  gentleman,  .10  finer  adventurer 
than  Roald  Amundsen. 


XLVIII 

WOMEN 

npWO    centuries    ago    Miss    Mary    Read,    aged 
J-     thirteen,  entered  the  Royal  Navy  as  a  boy.    A 
little  later  she  deserted,  and  still  disguised  as  a  boy, 
went  soldiering,  first  in  a  line  regiment,  afterward  as 
a  trooper.    She  was  very  brave.    On  the  peace  of 
Ryswick,  seeing  that  there  was  to  be  no  more  fighting, 
she  went  into  the  merchant  service  for  a  change  and 
was  bound  for  the  W-st  Indies  when  the  ship'  was 
gathered  in  by  pirates.    Rather  than  walk  the  ^Unk 
she  became  a  pirate  herself  and  rose  from  rank         ,ik' 
until  she  hoisted  the  black  flag  with  the  grade  o.  .;ap- 
tain.    So  she  fell  in  with  Mrs.  Bonny,  widow  of  a 
pirste  captain.    The  two  amiable  ladies,  commanding 
each  her  own  vessel,  went  into  a  business  partnership 
scuttling  ships  and  cutting   throats   for   years   with 
marked  success. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  an  escaped  nun  did  well 
as  a  seafaring  man  under  the  Spanish  colors,  ruffled 
as  a  gallant  in  Chili,  and  led  a  gang  of  brigands  in  the 
Andes.  On  her  return  to  Spain  as  a  lady,  she  was 
very  much  petted  at  the  court  of  Madrid.  The  last  of 
many  female  bandits  was  Miss  Peari  Hart,  who,  in 
1890,  robbed  a  stage-coach  in  Arizona. 

Mr.  Murray  Hall,  a  well-known  Tammany  politician 
and  a  successful  business  man.  died  in  New  York, 
and  was  found  to  be  a  woman. 
31S 


Sl'^ 


3i6  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

But  of  women  who,  without  disguise,  have  excelled 
in  adventurous  trades,  I  have  known  in  Western  Can- 
ada two  who  are  gold  miners  and  two  who  are  cow- 
boys.    Mrs.  Ungdon,  of  California,  drove  a  stage- 
coach for  years.    Miss  Calamity  Jane  was  a  noted 
Montana  bull-whacker.    Miss  Minnie  Hill  and  Miss 
Collie   French   are   licensed   American  pilots.    Miss 
Evelyn  Smith,  of  Nova  Scotia,  was  a  jailer.    Lady 
Clifford  holds  Board  of  Trade  certificates  as  an  officer 
in  our  n.ercantile  marine.    A  distinguished  French 
explorer,  Madame  Dieulafoy,  is  an  officer  of  the  Le- 
gion of  Honor,  entitled  to  a  military  salute  from  all 
sentries,  and  has  the  singular  right  by  law  of  wearmK 
the  dress  of  a  man.    Several  English  ladies  have  been 
explorers.    Miss    Bird    explored    Japan,    conquered 
Long's  PfAk,  and  was  once  captured  by  Mountain  Jim, 
the  Colorado  robber.    Lady  Florence  Dixie  explored 
Patagonia,  Miss  Gordon-Cumming  explored  a  hundred 
of  the  South  Sea  Isles,  put  an  end  to  a  civil  war  m  Sa- 
moa and  was  one  of  the  first  travelers  on  the  Pamirs. 
Mrs  Mulhall  has  traced  the  sources  of  the  Amazons. 
Lady  Baker,  Mrs.  Jane  Moir,  and  Miss  Kingsley  rank 
among  the  great  pioneers  of  Africa.    Lady  Hester 
Stonhope,  traveling  in  the  Levant,  the  ship  being 
loaded  with  treasure,  her  own  property,  was  cast  away 
on  a   desert  island  near  Rhodes.    Escapmg  thence 
she  Uaversed  the  Arabian  deserts,  and  by  a  gathering 
of  forty  thousands  of  Arabs  was  proclaimed  queen  of 
Palmyra.    This  beautiful  and  gifted  woman  reigned 
through  the  first  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century 
from  her  palace  on  the  slopes  of  Mount  Lebanon. 
Two  other  British  princesses  in  wild  lands  were  Her 
Highness  Florence,  Maharanee  of  Patiala,  and  the 


WOMEN 


3*7 


tZ        ■  ^.^^'  *''°'"  «"»  »  reverenced  by  the 
Moslems  m  North  Africa  as  a  sacred  personam 

Among  women  who  have  been  warriors  the  greatest 
perhaps,  were  the  British  Queen  Boadicea  !^d  S 
samtly  and  heroic  Joan  of  Arc,  burned,  to  o';  everl^! 
.ng  shame,  at  Rouen.  Frances  Sca;agatti,  a  noWe 
Itahan  g,rl.  fought  with  distinction  as  an  offi  er  in te 
Aus  nan  army,  once  led  the  storming  of  a  redoubt" and 
af^r  three  years  in  the  field  against  Napoleon,  Went 
home,  a  young  lady  again,  of  sweet  and  mild  disposi- 

Doctor  James  Barry,  M.D..  inspector-general  of 
hospitals  m  the  British  Army,  a  duelist  a  mart  neV 
and  a  hopelessly  insubordinate  WeHedin  Sri 

fh^T      u       °'*'  °^  adventurous  camp  followers 
tunes  m  nearly  every  army.    Loreta  Velasquez    of 

took  command,  was  commissioned  in  the  Confederate 
Army  during  the  Civil  War  of  ,861-5  and  fought  « 

tSra'so""'".H'"^^-    '"^   "^'^   --rdta" 
work  as  a  spy  m  the  northern  army.    After  the  war 

Mrs.  Christian  Davies,  bom  in  1667  in  Dublin  was  a 
happy  and  respectable  married  wo^an  with  a  Tar« 

«y,  lor  her  husband  was  seized  by  a  press  wn?  an,? 
dragged   away  to  serve  in   the  fleet.    Mrs    ^a'b 

bors.  and  set  off  m  sea«h  of  the  man  she  lovll. 


't'l 


3i8  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

When  she  returned  two  years  later  as  a  soldier,  she 
found  her  children  happy,  the  neighbors  kind,  and 
herself  utterly  unknown.    She  went  away  contented. 
She  served  under  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  through- 
out his  campaigns  in  Europe,  first  as  an  infantry  sol- 
dier, but  later  as  a  dragoon,  for  at  the  batUes  of  Blm- 
heim  and  Fontenoy  she  was  a  sqjadron  leader  of  the 
Scots  Grays.    The  second  dragoon  guards  have  many 
curious  traditions  of  "Mother  Ross."    When  after 
twelve  years  military  service,  she  ultimately  found  her 
husband,  he  was  busy  flirting  with  a  waitress  m  a 
Dutch  inn,  and  she  passed  by,  saying  nothmg.    In  her 
capacity  as  a  soldier  she  was  a  flirt  herself,  makmg 
love  to  every  girl  she  met,  a  gallant,  a  duehst,  and 
notably    brave.    At    last,    after    a    severe    wound, 
her  sex  was  discovered  and  she  forgave  her  husband. 
She  died  in  Chelsea  Hospital  at  the  age  of  one  hun- 
dred eight,  and  her  monument  may  be  seen  m  the 

Hannah"  Snell  left  her  home  because  her  husband 
had  bolted  with  another  woman,  and  she  wanted  to 
find  and  kill  him.    In  course  of  her  search,  she  en- 
listed, served  as  a  soldier  against  the  Scots  rebellion 
of  1745,  and  on"  received  a  punishment  of  five  hun- 
dred lashes.    A  series  of  wonderful  adventures  led 
her  into  service  as  a  marine  on  board  H.  M.  S.  Swal- 
low    After  a  narrow  escape  from  foundtring,  this 
vessel  joined  Admiral  Boscawen's  fleet  in  the  Kast 
Indies.    She  showed  such  extreme  gallantry  m  the 
attack  on  Mauritius  and  in  the  siege  of  Areacopong, 
that  she  was  chosen  for  special  work  in  a  forlorn  hope. 
In  this  fight  she  avenged  the  death  of  a  comrade  by 
killing  the  author  of  it  with  her  own  hands.    At  the 


WOMEN 


319 


siege  of  Pondicherry  she  received  eleven  wounds  in 
the  legs,  and  a  ball  in  the  body  which  she  extracted 
herself  for  fear  of  revealine  the  secret  of  her  sex. 
On  her  return  voyage  to  England  she  heard  that  she 
need  not  bother  about  killing  her  husband,  because  he 
had  been  decently  hanged  for  murder.  So  on  landing 
at  Portsmouth  she  revealed  herself  to  her  messmates 
as  a  woman,  and  one  of  them  promptly  proposed  to 
her.  She  declined  and  went  on  the  stage,  but  ulti- 
mately received  a  pension  of  thirty  pounds  a  year,  and 
set  up  as  a  publican  at  the  sign  of  the  Women  in  Mas- 
querade. 

Anna  Mills,  able  seaman  on  board  the  Maidstone 
frigate  in  1740,  made  herself  famous  for  desperate 
valor. 

Mary  Ann,  youngest  of  Lord  Talbot's  sixteen  nat- 
ural children,  was  the  victim  of  a  wicked  guardian  who 
took  her  to  the  wars  as  his  foot-boy.  As  a  drummer 
boy  she  served  through  the  campaigns  in  Flanders, 
dressing  two  severe  wounds  herself.  Her  subse- 
quent masquerade  as  a  sailor  led  to  countless  adven- 
tures. She  was  a  seaman  on  a  French  lugger,  powder 
monkey  on  a  British  ship  of  the  line,  fought  in  Lord 
Howe's  great  victory  and  was  crippled  for  life.  Later 
she  was  a  merchant  seaman,  after  that  a  jeweler  in 
London,  pensioned  for  military  service,  and  was  last 
heard  of  as  a  bookseller's  housemaid  in  1807. 

Mary  Dixon  did  sixteen  years'  service,  and  fought 
at  Waterloo.  She  was  still  living  fifty  years  after- 
ward, "  a  strong,  powerful,  old  woman." 

Phoebe  Hessel  fought  in  the  fifth  regiment  of  foot, 
and  was  wounded  in  the  arm  ai  Fontenoy.  After 
many  years  of  soldiering  she  retired  from  service  and 


iJO 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


was  pensioned  by  the  prince  regent,  George  IV.  A 
tombstone  is  inscribed  to  her  memory  in  the  old  church- 
yard at  Brighton. 

In  this  bald  record  there  is  no  room  for  the  ad- 
ventures of  such  military  and  naval  heroines  as  prison- 
ers of  war,  as  leaders  in  battle,  as  victims  of  ship- 
wreck, or  as  partakers  in  some  of  the  most  extraor- 
dinary love-affairs  ever  heard  of. 

Hundreds  of  stories  might  be  told  of  women  con- 
spicuous for  valor,  meeting  hazards  as  great  as  ever 
have  fallen  to  the  tot  of  men.  In  one  case,  the  casting 
away  of  the  French  frigate  Medusa,  the  men,  almost 
without  exception,  performed  prodigies  of  cowardice, 
while  two  or  three  of  the  women  made  a  wonderful 
journey  across  the  Sahara  Desert  to  Senegambia,  which 
is  the  one  bright  episode  in  the  most  disgraceful  dis- 
aster on  record.  In  the  defenses  of  Leyden  and  Haar- 
lem, besieged  by  Spanish  armies,  the  Dutch  women 
manned  the  ramparts  with  the  men,  inspired  them 
throughout  the  hopeless  months,  and  shared  the  gen- 
eral fate  when  all  the  survivors  were  butchered.  And 
the  valor  of  Englishwomen  during  the  sieges  of  our 
strongholds  in  India,  China  and  South  Africa,  has 
made  some  of  the  brightest  pages  of  our  history. 


XLIX 
THE  CONQUERORS  OF  INDIA 

QNLY  the  other  day.  the  king  of  England  was  pro- 
"^  claimed  emperor  of  India,  and  all  the  princes 

m  homage  This  homage  was  rendered  at  Delhi  the 
anc^nt  capital  of  Hindustan;  and  it  is  only  one  i, fn! 
dred  and  ten  years  since  Delhi  fell,  and  Hindustan 
surrendered  to  the  British  arms.    We  have  to  dS 

V  VT"  ""f*  '*''  "P  *•*  *«  ^°"<I"«t  of  India 
1„„?    •     '^^  '"',*'"'•  """^  °^  ^'  Great  Mogul,  had 

last  of  these  emperors,  was  driven  from  Delhi.    I„ 

Hmr"„  •'  'T''''  ^°'  '"'P  *°  ^*»'l''°i'  Scindhia,  a 
Hmdu  prmce  from  the  South,  who  kindly  restored 

tw",  S*'"  Shah  Alam.  the  blind,  helpless,  and  at 
tunes  veor  hungry  prisoner,  was  emperor  of  Northern 
India  and  in  his  august  name  Scindhia  led  the  armies 
to  collect  the  taxes  of  Hindustan.  No  tax  wi^" 
lected  without  a  battle. 
Scindhia  himself  was  one  of  many  turbulent  Mah- 

Prn?'^'    i^'u'"''  '°  '■'  °"  *«  P«hwa'3  head  at 

WW  r      u*.  «"P'«''''  h^d  =>«  Delhi,  while  he 

fought  the  whole  nobility  and  gentry  „f  India,  and 

321 


333 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


kept  one  eye  cocked  for  British  invasions  from  the 
seaboard.  The  British  held  the  ocean,  surrounded 
India,  and  were  advancing  inland.  Madhoji  Scindhia 
was  a  very  busy  man. 

He  had  never  heard  of  tourists,  and  when  De 
Boigne,  an  Italian  gentleman,  came  up-country  to  see 
the  sights,  his  highness,  scenting  a  spy,  stole  the  poor 
man's  luggage.  De  Boigne,  veteran  of  the  French 
and  Russian  armies,  aiid  lately  retired  from  the  British 
service,  was  annoyed  at  the  loss  of  his  luggage,  and 
having  nothing  left  but  his  sword,  offered  the  use  of 
that  to  Scindhia's  nearest  enemy.  In  those  days 
scores  of  Europeans,  mostly  French,  and  scandalous 
rogues  as  a  rule,  were  serving  in  native  arm'es. 
Though  they  liked  a  fight,  they  so  loved  money  that 
they  would  sell  their  masters  to  the  highest  bidder. 
Scindhia  observed  that  De  Boigne  was  a  pretty  good 
man,  and  the  Savoyard  adventurer  was  asked  to  enter 
his  service. 

De  Boigne  proved  honest,  faithful  to  his  prince,  a 
tireless  worker,  a  glorious  leader,  the  very  pattern  of 
manliness.  The  battalions  which  he  raised  for  Scind- 
hia were  taught  the  art  of  war  as  known  in  Europe, 
they  were  well  armed,  fed,  disciplined,  and  paid  their 
wages;  they  were  led  by  capable  white  men,  and  al- 
ways victorious  in  the  field.  At  Scindhia's  death,  De 
Boigne  handed  over  to  the  young  prince  Daulat  Rao, 
his  heir,  an  army  of  forty  thousand  men,  which  had 
never  known  defeat,  together  with  the  sovereignty  of 
India. 

The  new  Scindhia  was  rotten,  and  now  the  Italian, 
broken  down  with  twenty  years  of  service,  longed  for 
his  home  among  the  Italian  vineyards.    Before  part- 


THE  CONQUERORS  OF  INDIA        333 

mg  with  hi.  highne.,.  he  warned  him  rather  to  di.- 
Mnd  the  whole  army  than  ever  h«  ».mo.-j  •  / 
flict  with  «,e  E„,H  j;.    Soir^i^eCTn^h" 
burde.,  of  the  Indian  empire,  and  Sired  ,0^7  vil 

iSr;eranTht'or'"'"'''  '"^'"^'  •»«'  -  «>*««• 

While  De  Boigne  was  still  fighting  for  Scindhia  . 
runaway   Irish   sailor  had   drifted  *„p^ouil,'„d* 

^.W  ^^  °"*»  *»•  "  chivalrous  as  De 
Boigne,  w.th  a  great  big  heart,  a  clear  head  a  terrffi! 
sword,  and  a  reckless  delight  in  war.    S^  y^^ 

w.  Junta"'  -T^  ''^'"'"«  "«  ^""S*"  w"-y ^ 
he  fa;adJ,  f  ""  °''"  '""^  °*  fi^«  thousand  m^ 
iie  invaded  and  conquered  the  Hariana.    This  distri^ 

Se^IrisS  '  •"'  *^^  •""  "*^"  '^"  ""Wued.  but 
«i«r  Insh  king  won  all  their  hearts,  and  they  settled 
down  quite  peacefully  under  his  ^venuneL    His 

At  Hansi,  h.s  cap.tal  town,  he  coined  hiV^own  mo,*^ 
««  h.s  own  cannon,  made  muskets  and  powdeTaSi' 
»rt  up  a  pension  fund  for  widows  and  orphans  of  W. 

iXied  tr  Ste  if  h '°"'"'"''  "  '^'*'^°™  «'  «>'  ««d 
wTrthS,     f%h  """  *""*  ''""P7,  he  starved 

witn  them ;  if  they  were  weary,  he  marched  afoot  •  th. 

army  worshiped  him.  and  the  very  rr^orofhrnaL, 

r„  7      !!f  '•    ^"  '^•"«^  ''««"«d  possible  to  such  a 
•nan.  even  the  conquest  of  great  Hindustan. 
i^  Boigne  had  been  succeeded  as  commander-in- 


if! 


324  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

cliief  under  Scindhia  by  Perron,  a  runaway  sailor,  a 
Frenchman,  able  and  strong.  De  Boigne's  power  had 
been  a  little  thing  compared  with  the  might  and  splen- 
dor of  Perron,  who  actually  reigned  over  Hindustan, 
stole  the  revenues,  and  treated  Scindhia's  orders  with 
contempt.  Perron  feared  only  one  man  on  earth,  this 
rival  adventurer,  this  Irish  rajah  of  the  Hariana,  and 
seiit  an  expedition  to  destroy  him. 

The  new  master  of  Hindustan  detested  the  English, 
and  degrading  the  capable  British  officers  who  had 
served  De  Boigne,  procured  Frenchmen  to  take  their 
place,  hairdressers,  waiters,  scalawags,  all  utterly  use- 
less. Major  Bourguien,  the  worst  of  the  lot,  was  sent 
against  Thomas  and  got  a  thrashing. 

But  Thomas,  poor  soul,  had  a  deadlier  enemy  than 
this  coward,  and  now  lay  drunk  in  camp  for  a  week 
celebrating  his  victory  instead  of  attending  to  busi- 
ness. He  awakened  to  find  his  force  of  five  thousand 
men  besieged  by  thirty  thousand  veterans.  There  was 
no  water,  spies  burned  his  stacks  of  forage,  his  bat- 
talions were  bribed  to  desert,  or  lost  all  hope.  Fmally 
with  three  English  officers  and  two  hundred  cavalry, 
Thomas  cut  his  way  through  the  investing  army  and 
fled  to  his  capital. 

The  coward  Bourguien  had  charge  of  the  pursuing 
force  that  now  invested  Hanei.  Bourguien's  officers 
breached  the  walls  and  took  the  town  by  storm,  but 
Thomas  fell  back  upon  the  citadel.  Then  Bourguien 
sent  spies  to  bribe  the  garrison  that  Thomas  might  be 
murdered,  but  his  officers  went  straight  to  warn  the 
fallen  king.    To  them  he  surrendered. 

That  night  Thomas  dined  with  the  officers,  and  all 
were  merry  when  Bourguien  proposed  a  toast  insulting 


THE  CONQUERORS  OF  INDIA        3^5 

SuSno'drm?'  Thomas's™'.' *'"  ''"^'^  ^°- 
he  drew  upon  BouS^^^^  ■"•"  '''''•  ""'  *«« 
Wade.  "OnV  Irish  Sd"'  h?  T!f?  **  «''«'ri"« 
for  a  hundred  FrenZenl"  'S    '     '•  ''*'"  ^"'«"«=« 

Loyal  in  the  days  of  hU       ^°"'"^'«"  »»lted. 
was  received  4h Tono„  It  ^r  TV*'  ^^'-  «»« 
the  Ganges.    There  T         "^^^'''''''h  outposts  upon 

Before  hi.„,  the  Ssh  n„,     "?'"  °*  ^"*''''  ^''^  '^'d 

-ept  his  hand  ac  rinT^^.TnT''''  "''•    «» 
red."  *"*•       All  this  ought  to  be 

against  Genera,  pton  ruTe^  o'fH  ."  '^"'  "'"^  "'^o 
who  had  h-fted  Perron  ^omt^fT''-  ^'^'^^'^^ 
comander-i„-chief  of  h  Tr^'  *'"'*'  ^""^  «='''«=  h™ 
peril  on  the  Deccan  beset  hT^'  T'  "°^  '"  ^^^^^ 
princes.  In  his  b?tL  need  hi  ^^^  °'  ^^^tt'' 
cor.  Perron,  busy  aS  h!  '*="*  *^  ^"°n  for  sue- 
left  Scindhia  to  his  ff'e  '"^  '"  *''«  H^^^na, 

>eaSrwi?h  NlCt^H^f*'''  "-•  "«  wa, 

Pire  to  France,    grtrl/h'  °'"  ""  ^"'^^  ««' 
Now  Srinrfi,!   ""=_°*f"y«a  his  roaster. 

ha^  ^LSt  M^attTr  """"•-'"  '^^'^^  ^""^ 
°f  hand,  and  one  oTrtem  ^0^".^  ""'  *«*  ^'  <^ 
«nperor,  the  peshwa  of  PoI"l''  '^'°^^  «"  ^ahratta 
Peshwa  fled  trSorob^J  ^^1  f  °"  f  "'~"«-  The 
a^y  under  Sir  A^'w  J,  J"™^  "'"  '  u^"^'* 

-^-usan^Jen— tratJfel— -I 


if 


326  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

won  Poona,  the  capiul  of  the  South.  Meanwhile  for 
fear  of  Napoleon's  coming,  Perron,  his  servant,  had  to 
be  overthrown.  A  British  army  under  General  Lake 
swept  Perron's  army  out  of  existence  and  captured 
Delhi,  the  capital  of  the  North.  Both  the  capital 
cities  of  India  fell  to  English  arms,  both  em- 
perors came  under  British  protection,  and  that  vast 
empire  was  founded  wherein  King  George  now  reigns. 
As  to  Perron,  his  fall  .was  pitiful,  a  freak  of  coward- 
ice. He  betrayed  everybody,  and  sneaked  away  to 
France  with  a  large  fortune. 

And  Arthur  Wellesley,  victor  in  that  stupendous 
triumph  of  Assaye,  became  the  Iron  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton, destined  to  liberate  Europe  at  Waterloo. 


A.  D.  1805 

THE  MAN  WHO  SHOT  LORD  NELSON 

'TpHIS  story  is  from  the  memoirs  of  Robert  Guille- 
*  nwfd,  a  conscript  in  the  Grand  Army  of  France 
and  to  h«  horror  drafted  for  a  marine  on  board  the' 
tetde-ship  Redoubtable.  The  Franc(^Spanish  fleet  of 
thirty-three  battle-ships  lay  in  Cadiz,  and  ViUeneuve, 
the  n.ce  old  gentleman  in  command,  was  still  breathless 
after  bemg  chased  by  Ix>rd  Nelson  across  the  Atlantic 
and  back  agam.  Now.  having  given  Nelson  the  slip, 
he  had  fiwce  orders  from  the  Emperor  Napoleon  to 
jom  the  French  channel  fleet,  for  the  invasion  of 
imgland.  The  mce  old  gentleman  knew  that  his  fleet 
was  manned  largely  with  helpless  recruits,  ill-paid  ill- 
found,  most  scandalously  fed,  sick  with  a  righteous 
ten-or  lest  Nelson  cwne  and  bum  them  in  their  har- 

Then  Nelson  came,  with  twenty-seven  battle-ships, 
raging  for  a  fig^t,  and  Villeneuve  had  to  oblige  for 
fear  of  Napoleon's  anger. 

The  fleets  met  off  the  sand-dunes  of  Cape  Trafalgar 
drawn  up  in  opposing  lines  for  battle,  and  when  they 
dosed,  young  GuiUemard's  ship,  the  Redoubtable  en- 
gaged Lord  Nelson's  Victory,  losing  thirty  men  to  her 
nrst  discharge. 

327 


338 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Guillemard  had  never  been  in  action,  and  as  the 
diunders  broke  from  the  gun  tiers  below,  he  watched 
with  mingled  fear  and  rage  the  rush  of  seamen  at  their 
work  on  deck,  and  his  brothers  of  the  marines  at  their 
musketry,  until  everything  was  hidden  in  trailing 
wreaths  of  smoke,  from  which  came  the  screams  of 
the  woimded,  the  groans  of  the  dying. 

S<»ne  seventy  feet  ovvhead,  at  the  caps  of  the  lower 
masts,  were  widespread  platforms,  the  fighting  tops 
on  which  the  best  marksmen  were  always  posted. 
"  All  our  topmen,"  says  Guillemard,  "  had  been  killed, 
when  two  sailors  and  four  soldiers,  of  whom  I  was 
one,  were  ordered  to  occupy  their  post  in  the  tops. 
While  we  were  going  aloft,  the  balls  and  grapeshot 
showered  around  us,  struck  the  masts  'nd  yards, 
knocked  large  splinters  from  them,  and  cut  the  rigging 
h)  pieces.  One  of  my  companions  was  wounded  be- 
side me,  and  fell  from  a  height  of  thirty  feet  to  the 
d  -k,  where  he  broke  his  neck.  When  I  reached  the 
top  my  first  movement  was  to  take  a  view  of  th»  pros- 
pect presented  by  the  hostile  fleets.  For  more  than  a 
league  extended  a  thick  cloud  of  smoke,  above  which 
were  discernible  a  forest  of  masts  and  rigging,  and 
the  flags,  the  pendants  and  the  fire  of  the  three  nations. 
Thousands  of  flashes,  more  or  less  near,  continually 
penetrated  this  cloud,  and  a  rolling  noise  pretty  similar 
to  the  sound  of  thunder,  but  much  stronger,  arose  from 
its  bosom." 

Guillemard  goes  on  to  describe  a  duel  between  the 
topmen  of  the  Redoubtable  and  those  of  the  Victory 
only  a  few  yards  distant,  and  when  it  was  finished  he 
lay  alone  among  the  dead  who  crowded  the  swaying 
platform. 


THE  MAN  WHO  SHOT  LORD  NELSON     329 

cJj^^ir*/*  **  ^"«"*  '*»«'  *»"  «"  officer 
TTTl*.'?  *".''*"  '°'*  *•*  ""'y  o»«  «™-  From 
what  I  had  heard  of  Nelson  I  had  no  doubt  that  it  ^ 
he.  He  was  surrounded  by  several  oflScers,  to  whom 
b.  seemed  to  be  giving  orders.  At  the  moment  1  first 
perceived  hmi  several  of  his  sailors  were  wounded  be- 
side him  by  the  fire  of  the  Redoubtable.    As  I  had  re- 

T^ZTil'  *° 5°.''°'^"'  «"•  '^^  "y«>f  forgotten 
in  the  tops.  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  fire  on  the  poop  of 
the  English  vessel,  which  I  saw  quite  cle-;ly  exposed 
and  dose  to  me.    I  could  even  have  taken  aim  at  the 
men  I  saw.  but  I  fired  at  hazard  among  the  groups  of 
Milors  and  officers.    All  at  once  I  saw  great  ^fusion 
oa  board  the  Victory;  the  men  crowded  round  the 
officer  whom  I  had  taken  for  Nelson.    He  had  just 
fallen,  and  was  taken  below  covered  with  a  cloak. 
The  agitation  shown  at  this  moment  left  me  no  doubt 
ftat  I  had  judged  rightly,  and  that  it  really  was  the 
English  admu-al.    An  instant  afterward  the  Victorv 
ceased  from  firing,  the  deck  was  abandoned.  .       I 
hurried   below   to  inform   the   captain He  be- 
lieved me  the  more  readily  as  the  slackening  of  the 
fire  indicated  that  an  event  of  the  highest  im^rtance 
occupied  the  attention  of  the  English  ship^  crew 
...  He  gave  immediate  orders  for  boarding,  and 
everything  was  prepared  for  it  in  a  moment    It  is 
even  said  that  young  Fontaine,  a  midshipman  . 
passed  by  the  ports  into  the  lower  deck  of  the  English 
vessd,  found  ,t  abandoned,  and  returned  to  notify  that 
the  ship  had  surrendered.  .  .  .  However,  as  a  part  of 
our  crew,  commanded  by  two  officers,  were  r«dy  to 

SfTV!!*^'"'"^'!'''*'  *«  fi^  recommenced 
With  a  fury  it  had  never  had  from  the  beginning  of  the 


330 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


action.  ...  In  less  than  half  an  hour  our  vessel,  witb^ 
out  having  hauled  down  her  colors,  had  in  fact,  sur- 
rendered. Her  fire  had  gradually  slackened  and  then 
had  ceased  altogether.  .  .  .  Not  more  than  one  hun- 
dred fifty  men  survived  out  of  a  crew  of  about  eight 
hundred,  and  almost  all  those  were  more  or  less 
severely  wounded." 

When  these  were  taken  on  board  the  Victory,  Guille- 
mard  learned  how  the  bullet  which  struck  down 
through  Lord  Nelson's  shoulder  and  shattered  the 
spine  below,  had  come  from  the  fighting  tops  of  the 
Redoubtttble,  where  he  had  been  the  only  living  soul. 
He  speaks  of  his  grief  as  a  man,  his  triumph  as  a  sol- 
dier of  France,  who  had  delivered  his  country  from 
her  great  enemy.  What  it  meant  for  England  judge 
now  after  nearly  one  hundred  years,  when  one  meets 
a  bluejacket  in  the  street  with  tiie  three  white  lines  of 
braid  upon  his  collar  in  memory  of  Nelson's  victories 
at  Copenhagen,  the  Nile  and  Trafal(,ar  and  the  blade 
neckcloth  worn  in  mourning  for  his  death. 

It  seemed  at  the  time  that  the  very  winds  sang  Nel- 
son's requiem,  for  with  the  night  came  a  storm  putting 
the  English  shattered  fleet  m  mortal  peril,  while  of  the 
nineteen  captured  battle-ships  not  one  was  fit  to  brave 
the  elements.  For,  save  some  few  vessels  that  basely 
ran  away  before  the  action,  both  French  and  Spaniards 
had  fought  with  sublime  desperation,  and  when  the 
English  prize-crews  took  possession,  they  and  iheir 
prisoners  were  together  drowned.  The  Aigte  was  cast 
away,  and  not  one  man  escaped ;  the  Santissima  Trini- 
dad, the  largest  ship  in  the  world,  foundered ;  the  Itt- 
domitabk  sank  with  fifteen  hundred  wounded;  <he 
AcMle,  with  her  officers  shooting  themselves,  her 


i 


LoHD  Nelson 


■r«««,  WHO  SHOT  ^^^^     ^ 

wounded  In  the  handTw.  1.,?*^* .  VJUeneuve. 
?«>"«  the  French  pri«J!!fr'  *"  '^**'  «««  Mnt 

<«er  who  could  wSrS^^?  '*'^  ""Injured^. 

A>«e.ford.  i„  ^f;^*?  "^  *«>  residence  at 

•yn^thy.  ^'  *'*■'««'  wth  respect  and 

Prisoners  of  war  am  .^     « 

^^  ^^Z'^l'^  ^  fcHange 
but  after  five  months  vlnZ,  ^*'  «»»>  for  man  • 
tan.  to  France  'TpllS'v  ^  '"'^«»  *^e. 
^"1^  coast  at  the  «.rfT*    .""tender  again  on  the 

byGuinemardldJ^S*^^  ^•'- '«"«'^ 
"d  fr«n  the  town  of  R^l"*  ^T^"  ^  chann.,, 
fM  had  his  trial  not  loT^  ».  P'"^'  ''''*'«  Drey- 
*o  the  govermnent  in  ^s  rT  '"^'  despatches 
«  a  private  letter,  to  ar«i«  IT  !T'"«'  •■*  «'«« 
«P^»s  on  the  ch;^  ^cSaS:   ^  ^"^-^vin* 

appeared-men   in  d^t,   dr^"''\*^  '*«^ 

»«ny  questions  about  Vil^Seutr'TT^  "**^  ''^ 

™^*-     The  secreterv  wa. 


33a  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

pnwd  of  hU  niMter,  glad  to  talk  about  to  distfaguUhed 
a  man,  and  thought  no  evil  when  he  gave  his  antwen. 
The  leader  of  the  five  wa»  a  southern  Frenchman,  the 
others  foreigners,  deeply  Unned,  who  wore  mustaches 

in  those  days  an  unusual  ornament 

That  night  the  admiral  had  gone  to  bed  in  his  room 
on  the  first  floor  of  the  inn,  and  the  secreUry  was 
asleep  wi  the  floor  above.  A  cry  disturbed  him,  and 
taking  his  sword  and  candle,  he  ran  down-stoirs  in 
time  to  see  the  five  strangers  sneak  by  him  hurriedly. 
Guillemard  rushed  to  the  admiral's  room  "  and  saw 
the  unfortunate  man,  whom  the  balls  of  Trafalgar  had 
respected,  stretched  pale  and  bloody  on  his  bed.  He 
.  ,  .  breathed  hard,  and  struggled  with  the  agonies  of 
death.  .  .  .  Five  deep  wounds  pierced  his  breast." 

So  it  was  the  fate  of  the  slayer  of  Nelson  to  be 
alone  with  Villeneuve  at  his  death. 

When  he  reached  Paris  the  youngster  was  sum- 
moned to  the  Tuaeries,  and  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
made  him  tell  the  whole  story  of  the  admiral's  assas- 
sination. Yet  oflRcially  the  death  was  announced  as 
suicide,  and  Guillemard  met  the  leader  of  the  five 
assassins  walking  in  broad  daylight  on  the  boulevards. 
The  lad  kept  his  mouth  shut 
Guillemard  lived  to  fight  in  many  of  the  emperor's 
battles,  to  be  one  of  the  ten  thousand  prisoners  of  the 
Spaniards  on  the  desert  island  of  the  Cabrera,  whence 
he  made  a  gallant  escape ;  to  be  a  prisoner  of  the  Rus- 
sians in  Siberia;  to  assist  in  King  Murat's  flight  from 
France;  and,  finally,  after  twenty  years  of  adventure, 
to  return  with  many  wounds  and  few  honors  to  his 
native  village, 


Lr 

A.  D.  i8ia 
THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON 

man.  .  perwn  of  TearS^  """'  °*  «  ««"«- 
b-uty  of  face,  charm  that  KIh  In  ^^u*!  ^''»"'*= 

ro«  to  be  captain,  colonr^e^f"""'"!'^' f" 
chief,  consul  of  Ftaice  «„nL*^!^'  "^""""""der-in- 
of  Europe.  LST^^^^:;'^'  P'f"ch.  master 
w«»  still  only  thirty-th?^^L«  J  ''"rid -and  he 
height  of  hi,  glor/he  i^^tTp  ?«*'  *••*"  «  *« 
invasion  was  «th^«,  r        "f.  ?""'«•    ^is  army  of 

Geman..  Swa^S.  rp^t^Vt^  "»«°«- 
>n«r  more  than  half  a  m/n  '  '^''''"«».  ""niber- 

overwhelming  force    hi""'"'  ""  ^'*"''""'  «^ 
heart  of  Rufsia  ''^  '''''  "  ''♦'*"  «'«o  the 

iJi!' wl^Tt^^^ri"***  '^"'.'^  '^'^^  Nap. 
check  his  advMce  ^  •  ^'"  ^  attempting  to 

m3 


Id 


SS4 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Uttle,  wreckage  of  men  left  with  untended  woundi, 
honors  of  starvation,  and  wolf-like  hordes  of  Cos- 
sacks who  cut  off  all  the  stragglers,  the  legions  were 
kwept  away.  In  Lithuania  alone  Napoleon  tost  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men,  and  that  only  a  fourth  part  of 
those  who  perished  before  the  army  reached  the  gates 
of  Moscow. 

Thai  old  city,  hallowed  by  centuries  of  brave  en- 
deavor, stored  with  the  spoils  of  countless  victories, 
that  holy  place  at  the  very  sight  of  which  th».  Russian 
traveler  prostrated  himself  in  prayer,  had  been  made 
ready  for  Napoleon's  coming.  Nevtr  has  any  nation 
prepared  so  awful  a  sacrifice  as  that  which  wrenched  a 
million  people  from  their  homes.  The  empty  capiul 
was  left  in  charge  of  a  few  officers,  then  all  the  con- 
victs were  released  and  provided  with  torches.  Every 
vestige  of  food  had  been  taken  away,  but  the  gold,  the 
gems,  the  silver,  the  precious  things  of  treasuries, 
diurches  and  palaces,  remained  as  bait. 

Despite  the  horrors  of  the  march.  Napoleon's  entry 
was  attended  by  all  the  gorgeous  pageantry  of  the 
Grand  Army,  a  blaze  of  gold  and  color,  conquered 
Europe  at  the  heels  of  the  little  Corsican  adventurer 
with  waving  flags  and  triumphal  music.  The  cavalry 
found  cathedrals  for  sUbling,  the  guard  had  palaces 
for  barracks,  where  they  could  lie  at  ease  through  the 
winter;  but  night  after  night  the  great  buildings  burst 
into  flames,  day  after  day  the  foraging  parties  were 
caught  in  labyrinths  of  blazing  streets,  and  the  army 
staled  on  a  diet  of  wine  and  gold  in  the  burning  cap- 
ital. 

In  mortal  fear  the  emperor  attempted  to  treat  for 
peace,  but  Russia  kept  him  waiting  for  a  month,  while 


THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  335 

horses  for  4rbu7;h«  thtLr''  *';!  *'  ''^'"« 
fuel  to  cook  the  fro^TLea'  aLdt^"'  r"  '""'  "° 
b.e«,  wh«  «,.,  ,Hed  to  StraJr  sX^J 

strip  the  lJd.ZZZ7:''°  ""'"'"  *'  ''y''*' 
the  swords,  the  Jold  lace  tl  iT'"' -f  ^'^''^' 
J^  were  i  -gSd  ';%h'^'cS^^r'S  "*" 


ill,  11 


33.6 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


ing  to  God's  mercy,  taking  care  to  avoid  the  dead 
bodies. 

"  I  noticed  something  I  took  for  a  wagon.  It  was 
a  broken  canteen  cart,  the  horses  which  had  drawn 
it  not  only  dead,  but  partly  cut  to  pieces  for  eating. 
Around  the  cart  were  seven  dead  bodies  almost  naked, 
and  half  covered  with  snow ;  one  of  them  still  covered 
with  a  cloak  and  a  sheepskin.  On  stooping  to  look 
at  the  oody  I  saw  that  it  was  a  woman.  I  approached 
the  dead  woman  to  take  the  sheepskin  for  a  covering, 
but  it  was  impossible'  to  move  it.  A  piercing  cry  came 
from  the  cart.    '  Marie!    Marie!    I  am  dying! ' 

"  Mounting  on  the  body  of  the  horse  in  the  shafts  I 
steadied  myself  by  the  top  of  the  cart.  I  asked  what 
was  the  matter.  A  feeble  voice  answered,  '  Some- 
thing to  drink  I ' 

"  I  the  ight  at  once  of  the  frozen  blood  in  my  pouch, 
and  tried  to  get  down  to  fetch  it,  but  the  moon  sud- 
denly disappeared  behind  a  great  black  cloud,  and  I  as 
suddenly  fell  on  top  of  three  dead  bodies.  My  head 
was  down  lower  than  my  legs,  and  my  face  resting  on 
one  of  the  dead  hands.  I  had  been  accustomed  for 
long  enough  to  this  sort  of  company,  but  now  —  I  sup- 
pose because  I  was  alone  —  an  awful  feeling  of  terror 
came  over  me  —  I  could  not  move,  and  I  began  scream- 
ing like  a  madman  —  I  tried  to  help  myself  up  by  my 
arm,  but  fotmd  my  hand  on  a  face,  and  my  thumb 
went  into  its  mouth.  At  that  moment  the  moon  came 
out 

"  But  a  change  came  over  me  now.  I  felt  ashamed 
of  my  weakness,  and  a  wild  sort  of  frenry  instead  of 
terror  took  possession  of  me.  I  got  up  raving  and 
swearing,  and  trod  on  anything,  that  came  near  me 


THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  337 

»~l.^»  ..  tl,  poo,  d^u  „j„        ,^.''l«l'  I 

Ihis  was  November  twentv-five    t«i,    ^  u 
about  seven  o'cloct  in  tt.  •         '         *'  P^'haps 

hardly  uZ     ill        ■  '"°™""^'  '""'  *^  ^^  '*  was 
u'>  iignr.     1  was  musing  on  all  that  T  u^a 

«n,d  o«c.„  ,o.o„^  .*";  «"'.,n7;';: 

at  seeing  the  emperor  on  foot " 

passU"  Uhe'Zr  R  ''•?'  '^''■-P'-.  and  at  the 
1-    sage  of  the  River  Bererma  the  engineers  contrived 


338 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


to  build  a  bridge.  But  while  the  troops  were  crossing, 
the  Russians  began  to  drive  the  rear  guard,  and  the 
whole  herd  broke  into  panic.  "The  confusion  and 
disorder  went  on  increasing,  and  reached  their  full 
height  when  Marshal  Victor  was  attacked  by  the  Rus- 
sians, and  shells  and  bullets  showered  thickl;-  apon  us. 
To  complete  our  misery,  snow  began  to  fall,  and  a  cold 
wind  blew.  This  dreadful  state  of  things  lasted  all 
day  and  through  the  next  night,  and  all  this  time  the 
Berezina  became  gradually  filled  with  ice,  dead  bodies 
of  men  and  horses,  while  the  bridge  got  blocked  up 
with  carts  full  of  wounded  men,  some  of  which  rolled 
over  the  edge  into  the  water.  Between  eight  and  nine 
o'clock  that  evening.  Marshal  Victor  began  his  retreat. 
He  and  his  men  had  to  cross  the  bridge  over  a  perfect 
mountain  of  corpses." 

Still  thousands  of  stragglers  had  stayed  to  bum 
abandoned  wagons,  and  make  fires  to  warm  them  be- 
fore they  attempted  the  bridge.  On  these  the  Rus- 
sians descended,  but  it  was  too  late  for  flight,  and  oS 
the  hundreds  who  attempted  to  swim  the  river,  not  one 
reached  the  farther  bank.  To  prevent  the  Russians 
from  crossing,  the  bridge  was  set  on  fire,  and  so  horror 
was  piled  on  horror  that  it  would  be  gross  offense  to 
acM  another  word. 

Of  half  a  million  men  who  had  entered  Russia,  there 
were  only  twenty-five  thousand  left  after  that  crossing 
of  the  Berezina.  These  were  veterans  for  the  most 
part,  skilled  plunderers,  who  foraged  for  themselves, 
gleaning  a  few  potatoes  from  stripped  fields,  shooting 
stray  Oissacks  for  the  food  they  had  in  their  wallets, 
trading  with  the  Jews  who  lurked  in  ruined  towns,  or 
falling  back  at  the  worst  on  frozen  horse-flesh.    Gar- 


THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  339 

the  new  con^ilt^t  ZT^^^S'  Se"""^''  '° 
found  their  horses  useful  for  foof  an^l  "'*?"' 
they  perished.  '  *"°  '^*-  afoot. 

Mttle  clusters  of  m^„o7"'''T  '''"'^'''^'  ""'  t^ese 
they  marched  h~gS  S'h  ^t."""^'  '°'  ''^ 
often  comrades  wouM  L  u    ""  '^  *"=  ^*»'''  ^^ 

All  were  froze^  rSint  ..,T^''  ""'*^  *»"  ?»«• 

those  who  lived  to  the  ^7^  k  f  "'^'^''tion.  and 
never  again  couMVette^Cr^  "^'^^''''  '^"^ 

n.P^rt'TeTtre^S'oTsS'^'-r?^^^^^^^^^ 
met  the  survivors  on  the  GeLttX  'Se  "'f 
went  on  to  Paris  to  rai...  =  „  DO™er.  Thence  he 
was  conspiracy  in  F^alr^r'"^;  ^°'  "«"'  there 
despot,  and  Eurl  ^  '  "'  °."'*'""°"  "*  '"e 
field  of  Leipsic,  k  he  Tattle  ofl^  ^'™-  ^'^  °"  *« 
was  overwhelmed  *"  "'"°"'''  ^apoleon 

against  armed  Eurow     An7  ""^  """'^ed 

that  last  h.„ishmenMo  sinj  21^'  Y"'"''^'  *'* 
adventurer  fretted  out  hU  *  ^'  '"''"'''  *•"«  S'eat 
of  glories  nev:;'t  be  re  ivi'anTthi'r  '''^'"« 
which  was  forever  lost  *^***  *"P^« 


A.  D.  1813 
RISING  WOLF 

THIS  is  the  story  of  Rising  Wolf,  condensed  from 
the  beautiful  narrative  in  My  Life  as  an  In- 
dian, by  J.  B.  Schultz. 

"  I  had  heard  much  of  a  certain  white  man  named 
Hugh  Monroe,  and  in  Blackfoot,  Rising  Wolf.    One 
afternoon  I  was  told  that  he  had  arrived  in  camp  with 
his  numerous  family,  and  a  little  later  met  hmi  at  a 
feast  given  by  Big  Lake.    In  the  evening  I  invited  hira 
over  to  my  lodge  and  had  a  long  talk  with  him  while 
he  ate  bread  and  meat  and  beans,  and  smoked  numer- 
ous pipefuls  of  tobacco."    White  man's  food  is  -yjod 
after  years  without  any.    "  We  eventually  became  firm 
friends.    Even    in    his   old    age    Rising   Wolf    was 
the  quickest,  most  active  man  I  ever  saw.    He  was 
about  five  feet  six  in  height,  fair-haired,  blue-eyed, 
and  his  firm  square  chin  and  rather  prominent  nose 
betokened  what  he  was,  a  man  of  courage  and  de- 
termination.   His  father,  Hugh  Monroe,  was  a  col- 
onel in  the  British  army,  his  mother  a  member  of  the 
La  Roches,  a  noble  family  of  French  emigres,  bankers 

of  Montreal  and  large  land  owners  in  that  vicmity. 
"Hugh,  junior,  was  bom  on  the  family  estate  at 

Three  Fivers  (Quebec)  and  attended  the  parish  school 


RISING  WOLF  34, 

iaclttn!  rnr"  '°  '"™  *°  ^''''^  ""«*  ""*«•    All  his 

were  snenMn  i^"''  '"^T  "'^^  ^^°"  *«  ^'"^  ^«"n 
were  spent  m  the  great  forest  surrounding  his  home 

The  love  of  nature,  of  adventure  and  wild  life  wTre 

bom  m  h.m.    He  first  saw  the  light  in  July  jtS     i^ 

parents  to  allow  h.m  to  enter  the  service  of  the  Hud- 

tmaof  that  r  '""^'"''  '''''"'  "«'"-'l  -i'h  -  flo- 

Sve  him  a  fin    ?-'"r\'"'"^'  "'^^  ^P""S-    "'^  f="her 
gave  h™  a  fine  English  smoothbore,  his  mother  a  pair 

book.    The  family  priest  gave  him  a  rosary  and  cross 

summer  they  arrived  at  Lake  Winnipeg  in  the  autumn 

I  sSHhe  "  ^'  '^"  "  ^•'^  ^'^  ^-*  -  "" 
the  spring  he  journey  was  continued  and  one  after- 
noon m  July,  Monroe  beheld  Mountain  Fort,  a  new 
M  the  company's  not  far  from  the  Rocky  Mo„„ 

Bll'^f^''  v^"'  '*  '^"■*  *"=^'"P«''  thousands  of 
broiSf .  7^.  '"r."'  '°'  ^^  «°°«^^  *'  flotilla  had 
fS  J  ?V°  °*"*'"  °"  "^'^''  ammunition,  fukes 
(trade  pms).  traps  and  tobacco.  As  yet  the  com! 
pany  had  no  Blackfoot  interpreter.    The  factor  «" 

nao^  mtelhgence  at  once  detailed  him  to  live  and  travel 
with  the  Piegans  (a  Blackfoot  tribe)  and  learn  thlfa 

snTtii  tir'v"  r ''''  ^""™'<'  *°  ^-"*^n 

h^TiJl         '     **"*  **  succeeding  summer.    Word 

tarther  and  farther  westward  and  had  even  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  YeUowstone.    The  compa^/ w1 


34a 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


their  competition.  Monroe  was  to  do  his  best  to  pre- 
vent it 

" '  At  last,'  Monroe  told  me, '  the  day  came  for  our 
departure,  and  I  set  out  with  the  chiefs  and  medicine 
men  at  the  head  of  the  long  procession.  There  were 
eight  hundred  lodges  of  the  Fiegans  there,  about  eight 
thousand  souls.  They  owned  thousands  of  horses. 
Oh,  but  it  was  a  grand  sight  to  see  that  long  column 
of  riders  and  pack  animals,  and  loose  horses 
trooping  over  the  plains.  We  traveled  on  south- 
ward all  the  long  day,  and  about  an  hour  or  two 
before  sundown  we  came  to  the  rim  of  a  valley 
through  which  flowed  a  cotton  wood-bordered  stream. 
We  dismounted  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  and 
spread  our  robes  intending  to  sit  there  until 
the  procession  passed  by  into  the  bottom  and 
put  up  the  lodges.  A  medicine  man  produced  a 
large  stone  pips,  filled  it  and  attempted  to  light  it 
with  flint  and  steel  and  a  bit  of  punk  (rotten 
wood),  but  somehow  he  could  get  no  spark.  I  mo- 
tioned him  to  hand  it  to  me,  and  drawing  my  sun- 
glass from  my  pocket,  1  got  the  proper  focus  and  set 
the  tobacco  afire,  drawing  several  mouthfuls  of  smoke 
through  the  long  stem. 

"'As  one  man  all  those  round  about  sprang  to 
their  feet  and  rushed  toward  me,  shouting  and 
gestkulating  as  if  they  had  gone  crazy.  I  also 
jumped  up,  terribly  frightened,  for  I  thought 
they  were  going  to  do  me  harm,  perhaps  kill  me. 
The  pipe  was  wrenched  out  of  my  grasp  by  the  chief 
himself,  who  eagerly  began  to  smoke  and  pray.  He 
had  drawn  but  a  whiff  or  two  when  another  seized 
it,  and  f«wi  him  it  was  taken  by  still  another.    Others 


RISING  WOLF  3^ 

turned  and  harangued  the  passing  column-  men  and 
women  sprang  from  their  hor4s  and  jotae^  t^ 
grou,^  mothers  pressing  close  and  rubbing  SLt 

:h"firW  Th'  Tr  *."  ^'•^  - -pScalont 
if^h-vT:,  J'^'^^'^'^P"*"'?'' not  noticed  the  glass  or 
'f  they  had,  had  thought  it  some  secret  charm  or  i^ulet 
At  all  events  I  had  suddenly  become  a  ^e^  p^^^^ 

-;::^:t^S^;:£^?t^:;:^t5 
a^.  as  if  abi^ut^::  S^^'^z^r^'zz^i 

^ood  quue  still,  but  I  believe  that  my  haJ'^s  ris- 
mg;  I  know  that  my  flesh  felt  to  be  shriricing  j  wa\ 
not  kept  m  suspense.    Lone  Walker  spoke  to  his  Jts 

Ss  aTdTr^r^  ''''  "^°^"'  --  "etwee^thdr 
the  fir,f  ^  r  .""  *°  **  P'''^^  P°'"ted  out  to  me 
tte  be w  t  t  *^  •='^''=^'^  '<=^*  "and.  It  was  some 
wT finalv  ^  !  '  ^^'^"^to'ned  to  the  bears,  but 
another     Th  ".'°'*  °^  understanding  with  one 

nro::^oJSrdSfrrn-;-c^^^ 

appeared  one  night  and  were  neverTeen  agf in  •  '  '''" 


344 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


"Think  how  the  youth,  Rising  Wolf,  must  have 
felt  as  he  journeyed  southward  over  the  vast  plains, 
and  under  the  shadow  of  the  giant  mountains  which 
lie  between  the  Saskatchewan  and  the  Missouri,  for 
he  knew  that  he  was  the  first  of  his  race  to  behold 
them."    We  were  bom  a  little  too  late ! 

"  Monroe  often  referred  to  that  first  trip  with  the 
Piegans  as  the  happiest  time  of  his  life." 

In  the  moon  of  falling  leaves  they  came  to  Pile  of 
Rocks  River,  and  after  three  months  went  on  to 
winter  on  Yellow  River,  isext  summer  they  wan- 
dered down  the  Musselshell,  crossed  the  Big  River 
and  thence  westward  by  way  of  the  Little  Rockies 
and  the  Bear  Paw  Mountains  to  the  Marias.  Even 
paradise  has  its  geography. 

"Rifle  and  pistol  were  now  useless  as  the  last 
rounds  of  powder  and  ball  had  been  fired.  But  what 
mattered  that?  Had  they  not  their  bows  and  great 
sheaves  of  arrows?  In  the  spring  they  had  planted 
on  the  banks  of  the  Judith  a  large  patch  of  their  own 
tobacco  which  they  would  harvest  in  due  time. 

"  One  b^  one  young  Rising  Wolf's  garments  were 
worn  out  and  Coot  aside.  The  women  of  the  lodge 
tanned  deerskins  and  bighorn  (sheep)  and  from 
them  Lone  Walker  himself  cut  and  sewed  shirts  and 
leggings,  which  he  wore  in  their  place.  It  was  not 
permitted  for  women  to  make  mens  clothing.  So 
ere  long  he  was  dressed  in  full  Indian  costume,  even 
to  the  belt  and  breech-clout,  and  his  hair  grew  so  that 
it  fell  in  rippling  waves  down  over  his  shoulders." 
A  warrior  never  cut  his  hair,  so  white  men  living 
with  Indians  followed  their  fashion,  else  they  were 
not  admitted  to  rank  as  warriors.    "He  began  to 


RISING  WOLF  3^, 

colored  porcupine  quilir Side    so^ "•    *'*'* 

buffalo  robe  for  wime"  '       '  *'™  »""  *>^ 

'"I  could  iiot  help  but  notice  h»r'  u.  .  -j   . 

said,  "that  all  you  £spo£"j°V      •""''"  ''^ 

daughter."  ""'"**  ^  «n  not  give  hrni  my 

"'Again  I  looked  at  Ao-ah' W  ,^a    i. 


34<J 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


des  I  bought.  Surely  the  girl  was  not  for  me.  I 
suffered. 

"' It  was  a  little  later,  perhaps  a  couple  of  weeks, 
that  I  met  her  in  the  trail,  bringing  home  a  bundle  of 
fire-wood.  We  stopped  and  looked  at  each  other  in 
silence  for  a  moment,  and  then  I  spoke  her  name. 
Crash  went  the  fuel  on  the  ground,  and  we  embraced 
and  kissed  regardless  of  those  who  might  be  looking. 

"  'So,  forgetting  the  bundle  of  wood,  we  went  hand 
in  hand  and  stood  before  Lone  Walker,  where  he  sat 
smoking  his  long  pipe,  out  on  the  shady  side  of  the 
lodge. 

" '  The  chief  smiled.  "  Why,  think  you,  did  I  refuse 
the  thirty  horses?"  he  asked,  and  before  I  could 
answer:  "Because  I  wanted  you  for  my  son-in-law, 
wanted  a  white  man  because  he  is  more  cunning,  much 
wiser  than  the  Indian,  and  I  need  a  counselor. 
We  have  not  been  blind,  neither  I  nor  my  women. 
There  is  nothing  more  to  say  except  this:  be  good 
to  her." 

" '  That  very  day  they  set  up  a  small  lodge  for  us, 
and  stored  it  with  robes  and  parfleches  of  dried  meat 
and  berries,  gave  us  one  of  their  two  brass  kettles, 
tanned  skins,  pack  saddles,  ropes,  all  that  a  lodge 
should  contain.  And,  not  least.  Lone  Walker  told 
me  to  choose  thirty  horses  from  his  large  herd.  In 
the  evening  we  took  possession  of  our  house  and 
were  happy.' 

"  Monroe  remained  in  the  service  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  a  number  of  years,  raising  a  large 
family  of  boys  and  girls,  most  c  whom  are  alive  to- 
day. The  oldest,  John,  is  about  seventy-five  years  of 
age,  but  still  young  enough  to  go  to  the  Rockies  near 


RISING  WOLF 

347 

visited  hi.  home;  „em  L  !?/ °"  "«"  "'ver  re- 
^  with  him  at  the  MomTei'dr'  -f  :  *^ 
to  return  to  them  for  a  hnV*.-^  "*  mtended 
kept  deferring  it,  .^d  th«.  "    *^*  «™'  but 

oW  to  say  thft  i^te* Ik,  r?  'f "  **«  y*''' 
'«ter  from  an  attoml         ■     ''"**•    ^^«  »'»o  a 
queathed  him  a  cS;br7  ""  *'^  ""^  •"■ 
go  to  Montreal  HnT^Zce/-'^''^-  **""  '«=  «"«»* 
take  possession  of  it^kr^j"  P'^*"  '"  <"der  to 
Mountain  Fort  was  Lw  ♦    t   ?'  ""  ^'«°'-  of 
hin'.  in  hi,  simple  truSels  M  *''""'  °»  '«'^«=  '<> 
of  attorney  in  the  maTer     ^  tt""*  ^''  "  P*''^" 
and  by  virtue  of  the  papers  hthT."'^*'  '«"™«'. 
tiersman  lost  his  inherfE     But  thlf'  *'  '""- 
of  httle  moment  to  him  then     u  ?l  "'''  "  """^ 
«»«i  family,  good  hor^  fj,  v«t  dt." "'  '  "^"^ 
teemmg  with  game  wherJn  »  ^    °"""  *<='"a"y 

could  one  possTb^  Jam?       ''"'""''"•^    What  more 

"Leaving  the   Hudson'-!   Tl,„   n 
sometimes  worked  forX  a    ^  •     """"y*   ^°«'°« 
but  mostly  as  a  free  t«nJ  '""'"  ^"'  Company, 

katchewan  to  Z  T^'  ?"'""'  '"""  *«  Sas 
Rockies  to  L^eWinn^i^'Trn''"/  '^"^  '"e 
South  Saskatchewan  w^^one^f  iTr'"''  **'  *' 
mg  grounds.  Thither  in  thT  .  .  '''',^^°"te  hunt- 
the  noted  Jesuit  fX  nf  W  ^  ?'*"  *■«=  ^'^ed 
the  beautiful   lakes   !«;.  1  .T  ''/""^  "  'h*  f°ot  of 

they  erected  a  huge  wZen  °^  ^'"^  ^"""t^'i" 

bodies   of  water^SalT^^"rrf  "^=dtb«two 

Canada  and  United  S  a  es^^ ^        '"""    "*^"   ">« 
Mountains.  '^""'''''y  ^'"'"bs  the  Rocky 


348 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


"  One  winter  after  hU  »on«  John  and  Francoii  had 
married  they  were  camping  there  for  the  leaion,  the 
three  lodges  of  the  family,  when  one  night  a  large 
war  party  of  Assiniboinf  attacked  them.  The  daugh- 
ters Lizzie,  Amelia  and  Mary  had  been  Uught  to 
shoot,  and  together  they  mude  a  brave  resistance, 
driving  the  Indians  away  just  before  daylight,  with 
the  loss  of  five  of  their  number,  Lizzie  killing  one  of 
them  as  he  was  about  to  let  down  the  bars  of  the 
horse  corral. 

"Besides  other  furs,  beaver,  fisher,  marten  and 
wdverine,  they  killed  more  than  three  hundred  wolves 
that  winter  by  a  device  so  unique,  yet  simple,  that  it 
is  well  worth  recording.  By  the  banks  of  the  outlet 
of  the  lakes  they  built  a  long  pen  twelve  by  sixteen 
feet  at  the  base,  and  sloping  sharply  inward  and  up- 
ward to  a  height  of  seven  feet.  The  top  of  the  pyra- 
mid was  an  opening  about  two  feet  six  inches  wide 
by  eight  feet  in  length.  Whole  deer,  quarters  of  buf- 
falo, any  kind  of  meat  handy  was  thrown  into  the 
pen,  and  the  wolves,  scenting  the  flesh  and  blood, 
seeing  it  plainly  through  the  four  to  six  inch  spaces 
between  the  logs  would  eventually  climb  to  the  top 
and  jump  down  through  the  opening.  But  they  could 
not  jump  out,  and  there  morning  would  find  them 
uneasily  pacing  around  and  around  in  utter  bewilder- 
ment. 

"You  will  remember  that  the  old  man  was  a 
Catholic,  yet  I  know  that  he  had  much  faith  in  the 
Blackfoot  religion,  and  believed  in  the  efficiency  of 
the  medicine-man's  prayers  and  mysteries.  He  used 
often  to  speak  of  the  terrible  power  possessed  by  a 
man  named  Old  Sun.    'There  was  one,'  he  would 


RISING  WOLF 

<«f  k  night  he  would  invite  Ti^'.t       ,T*  **^  « 
when  ,11  w.,  cahn  .„d  i',,*  ''^   "^  "•  'o  "«  lodge, 
hi*  wives  would  bank  th.  ««     -f  ""  **'*  •«««'« 
w"  as  dark  within  .Twhho  7  "^f.  "''"  «>  *at  it 
pray.    First    to     he    Sun  chL'"^.''' *°""  »*^"  to 
"»ker.  the  thunder  .ndth^r. I  •"""    *°    "'*   *ind 
entreating  them  to  oo^'    nd  K'^,  «'  "'  P"^*<'' 
ears  would  begin  to  "uiver  whh  L"fi '  JT  """  ''^^^ 
«ming  breeze,  which  gradSv  tl    ."'■""' °^ '^ 
wronger  till  the  lodge  bem  to  S^f       ""'"^''  ""'» 
poles  strained  and  creTked     S    'f*  *"''  ""«  '°^ee 
boom,   faint  and  far^tat    and'".-''.""'*'"  ■*«""  '«> 
-zc,  and  they  came  „«r'  ^"''J'S''f"'"S  dimly  to 
«emed  to  be  jL  omhrd  '  '"''  "'""  ""«'  W 
the  flashes  blind  d„;:'„'.^  H'  "«''"  ''"fened  us! 
Then  this  wonderful  In         m  "'"*  terror-stricken, 
the  wind  would  dedrn  ^^'^  ^'^  '°  ^°'  «"" 
"ing  go  on  rumbling  Tndfla,h-      •  "'""''''  '""^  "^ht- 

"ntil  we  heard  anS  s^"  tJ^  ^^  '"*°  *"'  ^'^  «''^'«'« 
"""  *"W  tJiem  no  more,'" 


-ii 


'I? 


i 


LIII 


A.D.  1819 
SIMON  BOLIVAR 

ONCE  at  the  stilted  court  of  Spain  young  Ferdi- 
nand, Prince  of  the  Asturias,  had  the  condescen- 
sion to  play  at  tennis  with  a  mere  colonial;  and  the 
bounder  won. 

Long  afterward,  when  Don  Ferdinand  was  king, 
the  colonial  challenged  him  to  another  ball  game,  one 
played  with  cannon-balls.  This  time  the  stake  was 
the  Spanish  American  empire,  but  Ferdinand  played 
Bolivar,  and  again  the  bounder  won. 

"Now  tell  me,"  a  lady  said  once,  "what  animal 
reminds  one  most  of  the  Seiior  Bolivar?" 

And  Bolivar  thought  he  heard  some  one  say 
"monkey,"  whereat  he  flew  into  an  awful  passion, 
until  the  offender  claimed  that  the  word  was  "  spar- 
row." He  stood  five  feet  six  inches,  with  a  bird-like 
quickness,  and  a  puckered  face  with  an  odd  tang  of 
monkey.  Rich,  lavish,  gaudy,  talking  mock  heroics, 
vain  as  a  peacock,  always  on  the  strut  unless  he  was 
on  the  run,  there  is  no  more  pathetically  funny  figure 
in  history  than  tragical  Bolivar;  who  heard  liberty, 
as  he  thought,  knocking  at  the  door  of  South  America, 
and  opened  —  to  let  in  chaos. 
350 


\ 


SIMON  BOLIVAR  35, 

'•1  don't  know."  drawled  a  Spaniard  ot  that  time, 
^o^what   class   of   beasts   these   South   Americans 

They  were  dogs,  these  Spanish  colonials,  treated 
as  dogs,  behaving  as  dogs.  When  they  wanted  a 
university  Spain  said  they  were  only  provided  by 
Providence  to  labor  in  the  mines.  li  they  had 
opmions  the  Inquisition  cured  them  of  their  errors 
They  were  not  allowed  to  hold  any  office  or  learn  the 

ease  them  of  their  surplus  cash,  and  keep  them  out  of 
public  affairs  than  a  lot  of  Bengali  baboos. 
stole  LT  'T'  "'  ^^**"  *'°«^  ""«•  Napoleon 
su?H  K  """".P'f  «"aded  all  over  Spain  closely  pur- 

bu  the  cl  •"!"''■  '^'''  "^^  "°  Spain  left  to  love, 
but  the  colonials  were  not  Napoleon's  dogs.  Napo- 
leon s  envoys  to  Venezuela  were  nearly  torn  to  pie«s 

toX^^V"^  f ''"''^  ^""^  "P-    The  sea  belonged 

Bo ittr  f  ?•  '"\'**  *'''  '°'°"''''='  *"'  ambassadors! 
Bohvar  and  another  gentleman,  to  King  Geoi^e. 
Please  would  he  help  them  to  gain  their  libeT? 
ITL  '  M  ?"t'  ''*P°'«'°  -*  °^  Spain. ^d 
Sliards.'^""''    "^^   '''    ^^'    -•"•    ''^    »«-:  the 

I«i!!,  ^''°°  ^""^  unearthed  a  countryman  who 
lov^  liberty  and  had  fought  for  Napol™  Sd 

Snrri^f  T  '^'"'  Miranda^rabfe  S 
wming  to   lead   the  armies  of   freedom,   until   he 

i^rd.    He  really  must  draw  the  line  K«,ewhere. 


.353 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


:| 


Yes,  he  would  take  command  of  the  rabble  on  one 
condition,  that  he  got  rid  of  Bolivar.  To  get  away 
from  Bolivar  he  would  go  anywhere  and  do  anything. 
So  he  led  his  rabble  and  found  them  stout  fighters, 
and  drove  the  Spaniards  out  of  the  central  provinces. 

The  politicians  were  sitting  down  to  draft  the  first 
of  many  comic-opera  constitutions  when  an  awful 
sound,  louder  than  any  thunder,  swept  out  of  the 
eastern  Andes,  the  earth  rolled  like  a  sea  in  a  storm, 
and  the  five  cities  of  the  new  republic  crashed  down 
in  heaps  of  ruin.  The  barracks  buried  the  garrisons, 
the  marching  troops  were  totally  destroyed,  the  poli- 
ticians were  killed,  and  in  all  one  hundred  twenty 
thousand  people  perished.  The  only  thing  left  stand- 
ing in  one  church  was  a  pillar  bearing  the  arms  of 
Spain;  the  only  districts  not  wrecked  were  those  still 
loyal  to  the  Spanish  government.  The  clergy  pointed 
the  moral,  the  ruined  people  repented  their  rebellion, 
and  the  Spanish  forces  took  heart  and  closed  in  from 
every  side  upon  the  lost  republic.  Simon  Bolivar 
generously  surrendered  General  Miranda  in  chains  to 
the  victorious  Spaniards. 

So  far  one  sees  only,  as  poor  Miranda  did,  that  this 
man  was  a  sickening  cad.  But  he  was  something 
more.  He  stuck  to  the  cause  for  which  he  had  given 
his  life,  joined  the  rebels  in  what  is  now  Colombia, 
was  given  a  small  garrison  command  and  ordered  to 
stay  in  his  fort  In  defiance  of  orders,  he  swept  the 
Spaniards  out  of  the  Magdalena  Valley,  raised  a  large 
force,  liberated  the  country,  then  marched  into  Ven- 
ezjiela,  defeated  the  Spanish  forces  in  a  score  of 
brilliant  actions,  and  was  proclaimed  liberator  with 
absolute  power  in  both  Colombia  and  Venezuda. 


SIMON  BOUVAR 


he  wrote,  "reckon  ord  at  e'en  •r'^  '^'^"''^"'" 
culpable."  *    *^*'"    '^   you    are 

con^iti  mit^rlf  ^J:?;;^^^^^^^^^  Proclamations; 

the  governor  of  La  Guavra"  to  !LT'„  .  '^'°"'  '" 
in  those  dungeons  ,n7^'  ,«.  f  *  ^"  *^  prisoners 
exception  whfS''       "  '*'  '""^"'''  -■">-*  any 

a  fune*:,  'p^^hlnThis""'  '"^  T  "°*  """''■"S 
of  them  w7re  brolht  „n  •  T  u"^^  '=''^'"  ''""''■•^d 
axes,  bayonets  a7k„iv^s  and  the'  k"'^''"'"  "''^'^ 
on  the  flames.  Meanwh  ,e  BoL  r  L  hf  V'""" 
freshed   himself  by  writing  T^r'  ■  °'^"'  "=- 

lev^pScldV"""^"  ^■-  «>-  -e  vast 
by  wi^  horseL  n'k^^T;; -f^,--tr^.  h-dled 
Avar's  time  their  leader  called  hlseirr'-  ^"  ^°'- 
had  as  second  in  command  Mora's     B^r"'  'f,^^ 

^Tt  mr  r""'""^-"  ^°s::\afdTat^f.i*s 
r^fofsS'sr^"*^--^^^^^^^^ 

and    spared   iS    te  '''''  '''"^  ""'"^  ''"P^«'«' 


354  CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Then  Bovss  reported  to  the  Spanish  general,  "  I  have 
recovered  the  arms,  ammunition,  and  the  honor  of 
the  Spanish  flag,  which  your  excellency  lost  at  Cara- 

bobo." 

From  this  time  onward  the  situation  was  rather 
like  a  dog  fight,  with  the  republican  dog  somewhere 
underneath  in  the  middle.  At  times  Bolivar  ran  like 
a  rabbit,  at  times  he  was  granted  a  triumph,  but  when- 
ever he  had  time  to  come  up  and  breathe  he  fired  off 
volleys  of  proclamations.  In  sixteen  years  a  pains- 
taking Colombian  counted  six  hundred  ninety-six 
battles,  which  makes  an  average  of  one  every  ninth 
day,  not  to  mention  massacres;  but  for  all  his  puny 
body  and  feeble  health  Bolivar  was  always  to  be  found 
in  the  very  thick  of  the  scrimmage. 

Europe  had  entered  on  the  peace  of  Waterloo,  but 
the  ghouls  who  stripped  the  dead  after  Napoleon's 
battles  had  uniforms  to  sell  which  went  to  clothe  the 
fantastic  mobs,  republican  and  royalist,  who 
drenched  all  Spanish  /jnerica  with  blood.  There 
were  soldiers,  too,  whos'j  trade  of  war  was  at  an  end 
in  Europe,  who  gladly  listened  to  Bolivar's  agents, 
who  offered  gorgeous  uniforms  and  promised  splendid 
wages  —  never  paid  —  and  who  came  to  join  -.n  the 
war  for  "liberty."  Three  hundred  Germans  and 
nearly  six  thousand  British  veterans  joined  Bolivar's 
colors  to  fight  for  the  freedom  of  America,  and 
nearly  all  of  them  perished  in  battle  or  by  disease. 
Bolivar  was  never  without  British  officers,  prefeirec: 
British  troops  to  all  others,  and  in  his  later  years 
really  earned  the  loyal  love  they  gave  him,  while  they 
taught  the  liberator  how  to  behave  like  a  white  maa 

It  was  in  1819  that  Bolivar  led  a  force  of  two  thou- 


SIMON  BOUVAR  353 

sand  five  hundred  men  across  a  flooded  prairie  For 
a  week  they  were  up  to  their  knees,  at  times  To  thel 
tiecks  m  water  under  a  tropic  deluge  of  T-f„  i" 
mmg  a  dozen  rivers  beset  by  alSs  The  ~ 
and  starvation  bore  very  heavily  upon  th.  B  Sh 
troops.  Beyond  the  flood  they  dimW  the  eastern 
Andes  and  crossed  the  Paramo  at  a  height  of  thS 

-hard,     '''/"'^f'  'y  "'  ''^  -'"'»  •"  blLnrf" 
—  hard  going  for  Venezuelans.  ^    ^ 

BrJkh  ^"'^'"'"•     ^°'°""'     ^°°^'    commanded    the 

w      withT"^'"'    "  u"'"  *"=  ^'=P°«^'l'  "--3  quite 
well  w  th  his  corps,  which  had  had  quite  a  pleasant 
march"  through  the  awful  gorges  and  over ^hefrez 
■ng  Paramo.    A  Venezuelan  officer   re.^arked   h.r 
that  one-fourth  of  the  men  had  perTsheT  '" 

.nnJ  .r'  ^T'"  '^''^  ^°°^'  "  •'"t  ''  '••^ally  was  a  very 
good  thmg   for  the  men  who  had  dropped  out  w^ 
all  the  wastrels  and  weaklings  of  the  force  " 
BohW  r'     .'  ^''^"■■^'^•"ent  of  the  royalists  when 
Bolivar  dropped  on  them  out  of  the  cloud,   ^n^  • 

ZcT  ri^?""''  ''''  wer^^ut  to  "otr Nex" 

day  Colonel  Rook  had  his  arm  cut  off  hv  *uT 

chaflin    tH       ^^,  ,,^  bea'::;if:NSf ^asS 

went  on  frL  •  .°^"'"°"'  ''"'  '^'  ^''''^h  legion 
went  on  from  victory  to  victory,  melting  away  like 
snow  until  at  the  end  negroes  and  Indians  Med  £ 
^lustrious  companies.  Colombia,  Venezuela  and 
Equador.  Peru  and  Bolivia  were  freed  from  the 
S^n:sh  yoke  and,  in  the  main,  released  by  BoLJs 
tireless,  unfailing  and  undaunted  courage  Bu  Iw 
couM  n_^  stand  his  braggart  proclamation:;  w!uM  S 
Jwve  mm  or  any  man  for  master,  beeji  a  <.rU,  I 
squabbles    and    revolutions    that  'ha^^astrd  "v:r 


I 


•i»\ 


3S6 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


since,  and  proved  themselves  unfit  for  the  freedom 
BoHvar  gave.  He  knew  at  the  end  that  he  had  given 
his  life  for  a  myth.  On  the  eighth  December,  1830,  he 
dictated  his  final  proclamation  and  on  the  tenth  re- 
ceived the  last  rites  of  the  church,  being  still  his  old 
braggart  self.  "  Colcanbians !  my  last  wishes  are  for 
the  welfare  of  the  fatherland.  If  my  death  contrib- 
utes to  the  cessation  of  party  strife,  and  to  the  con- 
solidation of  the  Union,  I  shall  descend  in  peace  to 
the  grave.'  On  the  seventeenth  his  troubled  spirit 
passed. 


LIV 
A.D.  1812 
THE  ALMIRANTE  COCHRANE 
lyHEN  Lieutenant  Lord  Thomas  Toot,, 
^y    manded  the  brig  of  war  T/L?  ^    '  """- 
carry  about  a  whole  broad  ide  of ^er^'     '  l""^  *° 
his  pocket.    He  had  fiffv  f  cannon-balls  in 

toy  boat  alonglel  ^S:£^iZ:^lJr  ^^^ 
heavy  guns  and  three  hundred  nf  thirty-two 

Spaniard  could  not  fire  Ho       ■  '='"  ""="■  •»«  the 

he  blasted  her  with  hfstreh.u"'"  ^"  '^"=^''  ^'^"«'' 
-■ng  only  the  doSl  on  C'he  r'.T^"^'  L^^ 
got  more  than  he  bargained  for  ■;,  '"^  ".''  ^^''"'"''' 
wiped  out,  but  that  a  d!  r^h  '  "J*^  '^°"'''  ''*^«  heen 
to  resemble  blal  d2.o^'  .  '"  ""°"  ''^"^^'^ 
the  forecastle  hi  Trsli?/'''  '°""  ^^"^ 
that  they  surrendered         ^         '*'  ^"=  '°  ^^ocked 

caXtTu  ™f?;thipfo/r^.  ^-P'-^  ^'^"t, 
two  guns,  five  yZSr.rZ^''^,^',^"^^- 
chase  to  three  P™»-i.  .  *^ ,    "ers.     men   she  gave 

-t  with  a  ^rLd^^Tt      ''"'"'''^  ""'  ""■'*^''  «<1 

«rt:?r;S?„r;asXe5V^  \'*-"'^*'  -'^  « 

hulks   loaded   5  ^W  "^  "^'  A^works- 

'"th  explosives -with  which  he  at- 

357 


!«■'!  I 


M 


3S8 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


tacked  a  French  fleet  in  the  anchorage  at  Aix.    The 
fleet  got  into  a  panic  and  destroyed  itself. 

And  all  his  battles  read  like  fairy  tales,  for  this  long- 
legged,  red-haired  Scot,  rivaled  Lord  Nelson  him- 
self in  genius  and  daring.  At  war  he  was  the  hero 
and  idol  of  the  fleet,  but  in  peace  a  demon,  restless, 
fractious,  fiendish  in  humor,  deadly  in  rage,  playing 
schoolboy  jokes  on  the  admiralty  and  the  parliament. 
He  could  not  be  happy  without  making  swarms  of 
powerful  enemies,  'and  those  enemies  waited  their 
chance. 

In  February,  1814,  a  French  officer  landed  at  Dover 
with  tidings  that  the  Emperor  Napoleon  had  been 
slain  by  Cossacks.  The  messenger's  progress  became 
a  triumphal  procession,  and  amid  public  rejoicings  he 
entered  London  to  deliver  his  papers  at  the  admiralty. 
Bells  pealed,  cannon  thundered,  the  stock  exchange 
went  mad  with  the  rise  of  prices,  while  the  messenger 
—  a  Mr.  Berenger — sneaked  to  the  lodgings  of  an 
acquaintance.  Lord  Cochrane,  and  borrowed  civilian 
clothes. 

His  news  was  false,  his  despatch  a  forgery,  he  had 
been  hired  by  Cochrane's  uncle,  a  stock-exchange 
speculator,  to  contrive  the  whole  blackguardly  hoax. 
Cochrane  knew  nothing  of  the  plot,  but  for  the  mere 
lending  of  that  suit  of  clothes,  he  was  sentenced  to 
the  pillory,  a  year's  imprisonment,  and  a  fine  of  a 
thousand  pounds.  He  was  struck  from  the  rolls  of 
the  navy,  expelled  from  the  house  of  commons,  his 
banner  as  a  Knight  of  the  Bath  torn  down  and  thrown 
from  the  doors  of  Henry  VII's  Chapel  at  West- 
minster. In  the  end  he  was  driven  to  disgraceful 
exile  and  hopeless  ruin. 


THEALMIRANTECOCHR^.^E        359 
na?"S"  iZ  ^^i"'"":'  ^""""^""'"^  "-  Chilian 

was  spattered  with  the  blood  and  brains  off  ^r  „*' 

toucher  t"".'  "'"'•"  '^'^  ""^  ^P'  "  '^'  ^hot  didn'i 
touch  me.  Jack  says  that  the  ball  is  not  made  that 
W.1   hnrt  mama's  boy."    Jack  proved  to  be   right 

i?iStir-K:r¥hSr^-^!^ 

When  he  went  below  for  a  nap,  the  lieutenant  left  a 
A  I  ■"  .•^°"""="d,   but  the  middy  went  to  "eeo 

and  the  ship  was  cast  away.  ^ 

Cochrane  got  her  afloat;  then,  with  all  his  irun- 

fift^n  fort?  '^^''  *'l'  ^P""'^''  ^^™"ghold  with 
fifteen  forts  and  one  hundred  and  fifteen  eun, 
Cochrane,  preferring  to  depend  on  cold  s  eeMeft 
he  muskets  behind,  wrecked  his  boats  in  the  su 

o^ed":;:  'r  ■  ■''  *'^""  ^'"■■s*'*  ^^  *e  spani'd ; 

stormed  the  battenes,  and  seized  the  city  So  he 
found  some  n.ce  new  ships,  and  an  arsenS[  to  equ^ 
them,  for  his  next  attack  on  Callao 

lay"!n'canao'"TH'°V''\'"^''^'  '^^"^^"^"^  -h'-^h 
cruiser  She  h"  ',''*  'v'  ^""'"^  ^"''  ''™  f°^  » 
fle^  and  Sh  •^^"''^  ^'^  ^"^  P^''*^^"^  V  =>  Spanish 
fleet  and  battenes  mounting  three  hundred  guns  but 
Cochrane  d.d  not  mind.    EI  Diablo  first  eased  tte 


360 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


minds  of  the  Spaniards  by  sending  away  two  out  of 
his  three  small  vessels,  but  kept  the  bulk  of  their  men, 
and  all  their  boats,  a  detail  not  observed  by  the  weary 
enemy.  His  boarding  party,  two  hundred  and  forty 
strong,  stole  into  the  anchorage  at  midnight,  and 
sorely  surprised  the  Esmeralda.  Cochrane,  first  on 
board,  was  felled  with  the  butt  end  of  a  musket,  and 
thrown  back  into  his  boat  grievously  hurt,  in  addition 
to  which  he  had  a  bullet  through  his  thigh  before  he 
took  possession  of  the  frigate.  The  fleet  and  batter- 
ies had  opened  fire,  but  El  Diablo  noticed  that  two 
neutral  ships  protedted  themselves  with  a  display  of 
lanterns  arranged  as  a  signal,  "Pkase  don't  hit  me." 
"  That's  good  enough  for  me,'  f  ..id  Cochrane  and 
copied  those  lights  which  protected  the  neutrals. 
When  the  bfewildered  Spaniards  saw  his  lanterns 
also,  they  promptly  attacked  the  neutrals.  So  Coch- 
rane stole  awEy  with  his  prize. 

Although  the  great  sailor  delivered  Chili  and  Peru 
from  the  Spaniards,  the  patriots  ungratefully  de- 
spoiled him  of  all  his  pay  and  rewards.  Cochrane  has 
been  described  as  "  a  destroying  angel  with  a  limited 
income  and  a  turn  for  politics."  Anyway  he  was  mis- 
understood, and  left  Chili  disgusted,  to  attend  to  the 
liberation  of  Brazil  from  the  Portuguese.  But  if  the 
Chilians  were  thieves,  the  Brazilians  proved  to  be 
both  thieves  and  cowards.  Reporting  to  the  Brazilian 
government  that  all  their  cartridges,  fuses,  guns, 
powder,  spars  and  sails,  were  alike  rotten,  and  all 
their  men  an  encumbrance,  he  dismantled  a  squadron 
to  find  equipment  for  a  single  ship,  the  Pedro 
Primeiro.  This  he  manned  with  British  and  Yankee 
adventurers.    He   had   two   other   small   but   fairly 


THE  ALMIRANTE  COCHRANE        361 

^ectiv-  -Mp.  when  he  commenced  to  threaten  Bahia. 

four  hu^d      "'*'!r    •r«"*»*  ^'''-""'P'-  """""t'i 
,h,n.       A    -"  ""^  "«•'*''"  K""'-  «^«"ty  merchant 

Dublos  blockade  reduced  the  whole  to  starvation 
tt.e  threat  of  hi,  fireworks  sent  them  into  convSns' 
and  the.r  leaders  resolved  on  flight  to  Portugal.  So 
the  troops  were  embarked,  the  rich  people  t^k  shb 

ro"whrr;"'  *•"  ^''"'''^°"  «cort:^'£ 

fifte,n  7  .f  u""  ""'  «""""*  '"  'he  Offing.  For 
fifteen  days  he  hung  in  the  rear  of  that  fleet,  cutting 
off  sh,ps  as  they  straggled.  He  had  not  a  man  to 
spare  for  charge  of  his  prizes,  but  when  he  caught  a 
sh,p  he  ^aved  her  water  casks,  disabled  her  rifgW 

lu^  :r''^  °"'^  '""  ^'°''  '"e  wind  back  tf 
Bahia,  and  threw  every  weapon  overboard.  He  ca^ 
tured  seventy  odd  ships,  half  the  troops,  all  the  trea^ 
hi;  7f\^f  out-maneuvered  the  war  fleet  so  tha^ 
he  could  not  be  caught,  and  only  let  thirteen  wretched 
vessels  escape  to  Lisbon.  Such  a  deed  of  war  h« 
never  been  matched  in  the  world's  annals,  and  Coch! 
«ne  followed  it  by  forcing  the  whole  of  NorSm 
Brazil  to  an  abject  surrender. 

Like  the  patriots  of  Chili  and  Peru,  the  Brazilians 
p-atefuny  rewarded  their  liberator  by  cheating  Wm 
out  of  h>s  pay;  so  next  he  turned  to  deliver  Gree™ 
Jom  the  Turks.  Ve^  soon  he  found  that  even  he 
Brazilians  were  perfect  gentlemen  compared  with  the 
Greek  patriots,  and  the  heart-sick  man  went  home 

England  was  sorry  for  the  way  she  had  treated  her 
he  o,  gave  back  his  naval  rank  and  made  him  admiral 

stor .hTT"''"'""''""^  °^  "  S""^''  fl«=^t  at  sea.  re- 
stored his  banner  as  a  Knight  of  the  Bath  in  Henry 


II 


36a 


C.NPTAlNS  OF  ADVENTURE 


VII's  chapel,  granted  a  pension,  and  at  the  end, 
found  him  a  resting-place  in  the  Abbey.  On  hit 
father's  death,  he  succeeded  to  the  earldom  of  Dun- 
donald,  and  down  to  i860,  when  the  old  man  went  to 
his  rest,  his  life  was  devoted  to  untiring  service.  He 
was  among  the  first  inventors  to  apply  coal  gas  to 
light  English  streets  and  homes ;  he  designed  the  boilers 
long  in  use  by  the  English  navy ;  made  a  bitumen  con- 
crete for  paving;  and  offered  plans  for  the  reduction 
of  Sebastopol  which  would  have  averted  all  the  horrors 
of  the  siege.  Yet  eVen  to  his  eightieth  year  he  was 
apt  to  shock  and  terrify  all  official  persons,  and  when 
he  was  buried  in  the  nave  of  the  Abbey,  Lord  Brough- 
am pronounced  his  strange  obituary.  "  What,"  he 
exclaimed  at  the  grave  side,  "  no  cabinet  minister, 
no  officer  of  state  to  grace  this  great  man's  funeral !  " 
Perhaps  they  were  still  scared  of  the  poor  old  hero. 


LV 

A.D.  1823 

THE  SOUTH  SEA  CANNIBALS 
pAR  back  in  the  long  ago  time  New  Zealand  was 
*     a    crowded    happy    land.     Big    Maori    fortress 
v.nagej,  crowned  the  hilltop,,  broad  farms  covered 

•eason   the  people  feasted  between  sleeps,  or   should 
prov.s,ons  fail,  sacked  the  next  parish 'fir  a  lHjpy 

Th,*-    ;,,        """"^  P""'*'"  *«^«  "<=k«d  and  eaten 
that  w  the  course  of  time  the  chiefs  led  their  Ss 

edible  village,  but  still  the  individual  citizen  fd 
crowded  after  meals,  and  all  was  well 

Then  came  the  Pakehas,  the  white  men.  trading 
with  muskets  for  sale,  and  the  tribe  that  failed  to 

Till"  ?  '"'  *'■*•'  ""  ^'^  «-"  -Ped  out 
A  musket  cost  a  ton  of  flax,  and  to  pile  up  enough 

to  cZn"""  "  "'."'?  '""^  '""''  '«'^«  ''^  hill  fortre^; 
to  camp  m  unwholesome  flax  swamps.  The  peoDle 
woriced  themselves  thin  to  buy  guns,  ^wder  :n5Tron 
tooU  for  farmmg.  but  they  cherished  their  Pakeha 

and  ifr  KV  *''"'"'"  '■"  'P"""'  =''"e«  oi  Ae  chief, 
and  >f  a  white  man  was  eaten,  it  was  clear  proof  tha 

?ha«:ter  T?  "til'?'  °'  '  «>-'« 'detestlbte 
cnaracter.    The  good   Pakehas  became  Maori  war- 

36J 


3^4 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


riors,  a  little  particular  as  to  their  meat  being  really 
pig,  but  otherwise  well  mannered  and  popular. 

Now  of  these  Pakeha  Maoris,  one  has  left  a  book. 
He  omitted  his  name  from  the  book  of  Old  New  Zea- 
land, and  never  mentioned  dates,  but  tradition  says 
he  was  Mr.  F.  C.  Maning,  and  that  he  lived  as  a 
Maori  and  trader  for  forty  years,  from  1823  to  1863 
when  the  work  was  published. 

In  the  days  when  Mr.  Maning  reached  the  North 
Island  a  trader  waS  valued  at  twenty  times  his  weight 
in  muskets,  equivalent  say,  to  the  sum  total  of  the 
British  National  Debt.  Runaway  sailors  however, 
were  quite  cheap.  "Two  men  of  this  description 
were  hospitably  entertained  one  night  by  a  chief,  a 
very  particular  friend  of  mine,  who,  to  pay  himself 
for  his  trouble  and  outlay,  ate  one  of  them  next 
morning." 

Maning  came  ashore  on  the  back  of  a  warrior  by 
the  name  of  Melons,  who  capsized  in  an  ebb  tide  run- 
ning like  a  sluice,  at  which  the  white  man,  displeased, 
held  the  native's  head  under  water  by  way  of  punish- 
ment When  they  got  ashore  Melons  wanted  to  get 
even,  so  challenged  the  Pakeha  to  a  wrestling  match. 
Both  were  in  the  pink  of  condition,  the  Maori,  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  and  a  heavy-weight,  the  other  a  boy 
full  of  animal  spirits  and  tough  as  leather.  After  the 
battle  Melons  sat  up  rather  dazed,  offered  his  hand, 
and  venting  his  entire  stock  of  English,  said  "  How 
do  you  do?" 

But  then  came  a  powerful  chief,  by  name  Relation- 
eater.  "Pretty  work  this,"  he  began,  "good  work. 
I  won't  stand  this  not  at  all!  not  at  all!  not  at  all! " 
(Tlie  last  sentence  took  three  jumps,  a  step  and  a 


THE  SOUTH  SEA  CANNIBALS        365 

pZ^TV°  ''^  T""'  *'■•"«=•)    "Who  killed  the 

ine  mf  pi  T'  ^"°"'-  ^°"  *■■*  »  "'«  «"-".  bill- 
ing mj-  Pakeha  ...  we  shall  be  called  the  '  pkeha 
k>nk>llers  ';  I  shall  be  sick  with  shame;  the  plkehf^H 

n^  bones        .      (Here  poor  Melones  burst  out  cryine 

shoes"  ThrpM'^i""  ''  ""=  ^'''  Wher?tf,f 
Shoes?  The  Pakeha  ,s  robbed!  he  is  murdered!" 
Here  a  wild  howl  from  Melons  ""J^aered! 

The  local  trader  took  Mr.  Maning  to  live  with  him 

really  and  truly  belonged  to  Relation-eater.  Not  long 
had  he  been  settled  when  there  occurred  a  meetW 
between  his  tribe  and  another,  a  game  of  bluff  when 
mostT'T  °'.^°"'  ''''''  ''^""d^he  splendid  Haka 

Sw""  oldt?/"""'*'"^  °'  alf  ceremonfal  : 
Atterward  old  Relat.on-eater  singled  out  the  horri- 
ble savage  who  had  begun  the  wfr-dance.  and  these 

rted  ™  *;"'"='  T'^"'""'"'  '°'  '^  full  half-Jour! 
seated  on  the  ground  hanging  on  each  other's  necks 
gave  vent  to  a  chorus  of  skilfully  modulated  howHn'' 
So  there  was  peace,"  and  during  the  ceremoZ 
Manmg  came  upon  a  circle  of  wh^at  seemed  to  ^ 
Maon  chiefs,  until  drawing  near  he  found  that  thei^ 
noddmg  heads  had  nobody  underneath.    R  w  heal 

carty  the  robes,  Lookmg  at  the  'eds,  sir?"  asked 
an  English  sailor.  "'Eds  was  ^c.rry  scarce-  W 
had  to  tatt<x>  a  slave  a  bit  ago.  and'the" ,  al^  t^ 
away,  tattooin'  and  all! "  "° 

"What!" 

"  Bolted  before  he  was  fit  tr>  till "  c,:j  .u        ■, 
mournful  to  think  how  disL^'^.TcoS  ^""' 


366 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Once  the  head  chief,  having  need  to  punish  a 
rebellious  vassal,  sent  Relation-eater,  who  plundered 
and  burned  the  offending  village.  The  vassal  de- 
camped with  his  tribe. 

"Well,  about  three  months  after  this,  about  day- 
light I  was  aroused  by  a  great  uproar  ....  Out  I 
ran  at  once  and  perceived  that  M — 's  premises  were 
being  sacked  by  the  rebellious  vassal  who  .  .  .  was 
taking  this  means  of  revenging  himself  for  the  rough 
handling  he  had  received  from  our  chief.  Men  were 
rushing  in  mad  haste  through  the  smashed  windows 
and  doors,  loadec^  with  everything  they  could  lay 
hands  upon  ....  A  large  canoe  was  floating  near  to 
the  house,  and  was  being  rapidly  filled  with  plunder. 
I  saw  a  fat  old  Maori  woman  who  was  washerwoman, 
being  dragged  along  the  ground  by  a  huge  fellow  who 
was  trying  to  tear  from  her  grasp  one  of  my  shirts, 
to  which  she  clung  with  perfect  desperation.  I  per- 
ceived at  a  glance  that  the  faithful  old  creature  would 
probably  save  a  sleeve. 

"An  old  man-of-war's  man  defending  his  washing, 
called  out, '  Hit  out,  sir  I  .  .  .  our  mob  will  be  here  in 
five  minutes  I ' 

"  The  odds  were  terrible,  but  ...  I  at  once  floored 
a  native  who  was  rushing  by  me  ....  I  then  per- 
ceived that  he  was  one  of  our  own  people  ...  so  to 
balance  things  I  knocked  down  another !  and  then  felt 
myself  seized  round  the  waist  from  behind. 

"The  old  sailor  was  down  now  but  fighting  three 
men  at  once,  while  his  striped  shirt  and  canvas 
trousers  still  hung  proudly  on  the  fence. 

"  Then  came  our  mob  to  the  rescue  and  the  assail- 
ants fled. 


THE  SOUTH  SEA  CANNIBALS         367 

i.If^""'  *'T*  ""*'■  "''^  '^  '■"'«=  i"«dent  worth  „ot- 
mg  happened  at  „,y  friend  M_'s  place.    Our  £i 
hadior  sonae  t>me  back  a  sort  of  dispute  with  anoth 
m^te.  .     .  The  question  was  at  last  brought  to 
a  fair  hearmg  at  my  friend's  house.    The  arX„2 

the  ^  "^^  T'  ^"^  '"^""'^^  -  -"ch  soTat  S 
the  course  of  the  arbitration  our  chief  and  thirtj  of 
h«  prmcpal  witnesses  were  shot  dead  in  a  hea^^ 
fore    my    friend's    door,    and    sixty    others    badiv 

j<}£fr,  stress  s.r.is 

hmi  and  who.  as  was  quite  correct  in  such  ca^es 
sho  and  ate  all  his  stock,  sheep,  pigs,  ducks  «eL 
owls.  etc..  all^.  hig,  compliment  fo\'imse^J;'hS 

honors-,<;„g:.."'  '  "°''  '°*^^''-'  ^"-'-  *«« 
Mr  Maning  took  this  poor  gentleman's  place  as 
trader,  and  earnestly  studied  native  etiquette  on 
which  his  comments  are  always  deliciousV  funn? 
IZn  T'""''"^  "r«  ''"  P*"*^  -h'en  t"« 

Ss^  ^d*^^/  ^r*  ^P'^''*'*'  ^''^  ^^^ 
W^li'w,.       *°  "P'*"  '••*  ^"'S  more  clearly 

S^'hit.   V?-  ^"^'^  *'^'  *^«t=ned  to  k  n 
th«a  both  with  his  tomahawk,  then  rushed  into  the 
b^^m,  dr^d  out  all  the  bedclothes,  and  bu™ 
them  on  the  kitchen  fire." 

S^^'/^?''   .Sydney   paper,    the    desperado 
M        Friend,'  said  I  ;•  my  advice  to  you  is  to  be 

"  He  made  no  answer  but  a  scowl  of  defiance.    '  I 


368 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


V 


am  thinking,  friend,  that  this  is  my  house,'  said  I, 
and  springing  upon  him  I  placed  my  foot  to  his 
shoulder,  and  gave  him  a  shove  which  would  have 
sent  most  people  heels  over  head.  .  .  .  But  quick  as 
lightning  ...  he  bounded  from  the  ground,  flung  his 
mat  away  over  his  head,  and  struck  a  furious  blow  at 
my  head  with  his  tomahawk.  I  caught  the  tomahawk 
in  full  descent;  the  edge  grazed  my  hand;  but  my 
arm,  stiffened  like  a  bar  of  iron,  arrested  the  blow. 
He  made  one  furious,  but  ineffectual  attempt  to  wrest 
the  tomahawk  from  my  grasp;  and  then  we  seized 
one  another  roun  i  the  middle,  and  struggled  like 
maniacs  in  the  eu>-eavor  to  dash  each  other  against 
the  boarded  floor;  I  holding  on  for  dear  life  to  the 
tomahawk  .  .  .  fastened  to  his  wrist  by  a  strong 
thong  of  leather.  ...  At  last  he  got  a  lock  round 
my  leg;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  table  on  which 
we  both  fell,  and  which  in  smashing  to  pieces,  broke 
our  fall,  I  might  have  been  disabled.  .  .  .  We  now 
rolled  over  and  over  on  the  floor  like  two  mad  bull- 
dogs; he  trying  to  bite,  and  I  trying  to  stun  him  by 
dashing  his  bullet  head  against  the  floor.  Up  again  I 
another  furious  struggle  in  course  of  which  both  our 
heads  and  half  our  bodies  were  dashed  through  the 
two  glass  windows,  and  every  single  article  of  furni- 
ture was  reduced  to  atoms.  Down  again,  rolling  like 
made,  and  dancing  about  among  the  rubbish  — 
wreck  of  the  house.  Such  a  battle  it  was  that  I  can 
hardly  describe  it. 

"  By  this  time  we  were  both  covered  with  blood 
from  various  wounds.  .  .  .  My  friend  was  trying 
to  kill  me,  and  I  was  only  trying  to  disarm  and  tie 
him    up  ...  as    there    were    no    wtnesses.    If    I 


THE  SOUTH  SEA  CANNIBALS        369 
kaied  him,  r  might  have  serious  difficulties  with  his 
"Up  again;  another  terrific  tussle  for  the  tnm=. 

S'baZ  '^'"  *'*  "  ^"^"^  --^  so  thif^if  Tnd 
h^H       !r     r"*  °"  •  •  •  for  a  full  hour  .       we 

friend  h.gh  m  my  arms,  and  dashed  him    pantin; 

;,  g^°""°-    His  God  has  deserted  him. 

beate";  rmeS..''*''"'*^^'  '="-«'"  ^- 

i;I/'-  '"^t"*'°"''^'  '"=*  8°  ^'^  'eft  ann.    Quick  as 
lightnmg  he  snatched  at  a  large  carvine  fork 

Th  tn^i:SirTr^  •^^'^^''^  '^  ^^^^ 

tne  Handle  and  it  rolled  away  out  of  his  reach-  mv 
We  was  «ved.    He  then  struck  me  wS  This  71 

b~fo  r  °"  '!"';'''  ^'  *•"'  head,  cauling  t"^ 

Wood  to  flow  out  of  my  mouth.    One  more  sho,+ 

struggle  and  he  was  conquered  ^ 

"  But  now  I  had  at  last  got  angry  ...  j  „^,t  tj., 

fold  "him  t:  T"  °^  '"'''  "^  "-'0  '^■«  «"" 
fold  him  to  get  up  and  die  standing.    I  clutched  th^ 
fomahawk  for  the  coup  de  grace     At  th!.  •    ! 
thundering  sound  of  feet  .  T  a  whtL  friL       "    ' 
.  .     mv  f ripn,i=  I  «  *  "'■'*  coming 

toading  the  canoe  with  my  goods  and  chattels 
These  were  now  brought  back  "  


370 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


hand  the  first  man  in  a  native  battle  .  .  .  which  I 
witnessed  ....  At  last  having  attempted  to  murder 
another  native,  he  was  shot  through  the  heart  ...  so 
there  died." 

Mr.  Maning  was  never  again  molested,  and  mak- 
ing full  allowance  for  their  foibles,  speaks  with  a  very 
tender  love  for  that  race  of  warriors. 


LVI 

A.D.  1840 

A  TALE  OF  VENGEANCE 

I^».?'..^''^l  °^  •*'  «^''»''f''thers,  say  ninety  years 

to  the  M.ss>ss.pp,.  and  that  river  was  their  frontier 

The  great  plains  and  deserts  beyond,  all  specWed 

to  the  red  Indian  tribes,  who  hunted  the  buffalo 

^Lt^f^  Sp.nt   and  stole  one  another's  hor^s, 
without  raymg  any  heed  to  the  white  men.    For  the 

Rismg  Sun  Land  in  search  of  beaver  skins.    The 

These  white  men  had  strange  and  potent  magic, 
hnd  Ae  fire-water  and  the  firearms  which  made  them 

«t^'.r^l*'  f^'-  ^°""*^«  *  *hite  man 
«tered  the  tnbes  and  became  an  Indian,  winning  his 
^  as  warrior,  marrying,  setting  up  his  lodge,  and 
^J"^,*°*««^»<»<=of<*«f.  OfsuchTa^S 
Bedcwourth.  part  white,  part  negro,  a  great  war- 
rto ,  captain  of  the  Dog  Soldier  regiment  in  the 
371 


373 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


Crow  nation.  His  lodge  was  full  of  robes ;  his  wives, 
by  whom  he  allied  himself  to  the  leading  families, 
were  always  well  fed,  well  dressed,  and  well  behaved. 
When  he  came  home  with  his  Dog  Soldiers  he  always 
returned  in  triumph,  with  ban'^s  of  stolen  horses, 
scalps  in  plenty. 

Long  afterward,  when  he  was  an  old  man,  Jim 
told  his  adventures  to  a  writer,  who  made  them  into 
a  book,  and  in  this  volume  he  tells  the  story  of  Fine 
Leaf,  an  Indian  girl.  She  was  little  more  than  a 
child,  when,  in  an  attack  of  the  Cheyennes  upon  the 
village,  her  twin  brother  was  killed.  Then,  in  a 
passion  of  rage  and  grief,  she  cut  off  one  of  her 
fingers  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  Great  Spirit,  and  took 
oath  that  she  would  avenge  her  brother's  death,  never 
giving  herself  in  marriage  until  she  had  taken  a  hun- 
dred trophies  in  battle.  The  warriors  laughed  when 
she  asked  leave  to  join  them  on  the  war-path,  but  Jim 
let  her  come  with  the  Dog  Soldiers. 

Kapidly  che  learned  the  trade  of  war,  able  as  most 
of  the  men  with  bow,  spear  and  ^un,  running  like  an 
antdope,  riding  gloriously;  and  yet  withal  a  woman, 
modest  and  gentle  except  in  battle,  famed  for  lithe 
grace  and  unusual  beauty. 

"  Flease  many  me,"  said  Jim,  as  she  rode  beside 
him. 

"Yes,  when  the  pine  leaves  turn  yellow." 

Jim  IliOught  this  over,  ahd  complained  that  pine 
leaves  do  not  tum-yellttw. 

"Fliiasel"  he  said. 

"  Y*s,"  answered  Fine  Leaf,  "  when  you  ste  s  rtd- 
IfeaAd  liidibi." 


A  TALE  OF  VENGEANCE 


...  —  373 

the  animal  in  its  de=,fh7  i°^'  P'""'"K  •••"•  »<> 

the  lance^Tret^dTllL'-    .f;- ^^^  "au.ed  out 
horse,"  says    Tim    "„f  .  P'^"«  "P""  *e 

«lashed  into  i  co^«r  HeThor'   •"•"'   ""^   '^^ 
after  killed,  and  Tf^.^d  ler  LThT'^'^ 

enough  of  the  usual  kinrf      Vf'  "^"^  ''*''  *'^e» 

me  usual  kind,  whereas  now  this  girl's 


374 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


presence  at  his  side  in  battle  gave  him  increased 
strength  and  courage,  while  daily  his  love  for  her 
flamed  higher. 

At  times  the  girl  vras  sulky  because  she  was  denied 
the  rank  of  warrior,  shut  out  from  the  war-path 
secret,  the  hidden  matters  known  only  to  fighting  men. 
This  secret  was  that  the  warriors  shared  all  knowl- 
edge in  common  as  to  the  frailties  of  women  who 
erred,  but  Pine  Leaf  was  barred  out. 

There  is  no  space  here  for  a  tithe  of  her  battles, 
while  that  great  vengeance  for  her  brother  piled  up 
the  tale  of  scalps.  In  one  victorious  action,  charging 
at  Jim's  side,  she  Was  struck  by  a  buUfet  which  broke 
her  left  arm.  With  the  wounded  arm  nursed  in  her 
bosom  she  grew  desperate,  and  three  warriors  fell  to 
her  a::  before  she  fainted  from  loss  of  blood. 

Before  she  was  well  recovered  from  this  wound, 
she  was  afield  again,  despite  Jim's  pleading  and  in 
defiance  of  his  orders,  and  in  an  invasion  of  the 
Cheyenne  country,  was  shot  through  the  body. 

"  Well,"  she  said  afterward,  as  she  lay  at  the  point 
of  death,  "  I'm  sorry  that  I  did  not  listen  to  my  chief, 
but  I  gained  two  trophies."  The  very  rescue  of  her 
had  cost  the  lives  of  four  warriors. 

While  she  lay  through  many  months  of  pain, 
tended  by  Jim's  head  wife,  her  bosom  friend,  and  by 
Black  Panther,  Jim's  little  son,  the  chief  was  away 
fighting  the  great  campaigns,  whi  made  him  famous 
through  all  the  Indian  tribes.  Medicine  Calf  was  his 
title  now,  and  his  rank,  head  chief,  for  he  was  one 
of  two  sovereigns  of  equal  standing,  who  reigned  over 
the  two  tribes  of  the  Crow  nation. 

While  Pine  Leaf  sat  in  the  lodge,  her  heart  was 


A  TALE  OF  VENGEANCE  375 

oying,  but  at  last  she  was  able  to  ride  again  to  war 
So  came  a  disastrous  expedition,  in  which  Medicine 
Calf  and  Pme  Leaf,  with  fifty  Crow  warriors  and  an 
American  gentleman  named  Hunter,  their  guest 
were  caught  in  a  pit  on  a  hillside,  hemmed  round  by 
several  hundred  Blackfeet.  They  had  to  cut  their 
way  through  the  enemy's  force,  and  when  Hunter 
fell,  the  chief  stayed  behind  to  die  with  him.  Half 
the  Crows  were  slain,  and  still  the  Blackfeet  pressed 
hardly  upon  them.    Medicine  Calf  was  at  the  rear 

Jl  !m.^'??.  ^*  ^'°'""'  ^''^-  "  ^^y  ^°  yo"  ««t  to 

be  killed  ?    she  asked.    "  If  you  wish  to  die,  let  us  re- 
turn together.    I  will  die  with  you." 

They  escaped,  most  of  them  wounded  who  sur- 
vived, and  almost  d>ing  of  cold  and  hunger  before 
they  came  to  the  distant  village  of  their  tribe. 

Jim's  next  adventure  was  a  horse-stealing  raid  into 
Canada,  when  he  was  absent  fourteen  months,  and  the 
Crows  mourned  Medicine  Calf  for  dead.  On  his 
triumphant  return,  mounted  on  a  piebald  chaiger  the 
chief  had  presented  to  her.  Pine  Leaf  rode  with  him 
once  more  in  his  campaigns.  During  one  uf  these 
raids,  being  afoot,  she  pursued  and  caught  a  young 
aackfoot  warrior,  then  made  him  her  prisoner.  He 
became  her  slave,  her  brother  by  tribal  law.  and  rose 
to  eminence  as  her  private  warrior. 

Jim  had  founded  a  trading  post  for  the  white  men, 
and  the  United  States  paid  him  four  hundred  pounds 
a  year  for  keeping  his  oeople  from  slaughtering  pio- 
neers. So  growing  rich,  he  tired  o'  Indian  warfare, 
and  left  his  tribe  for  a  long  journey.  As  a  white 
man  he  came  to  the  house  of  his  own  sisters 
m    the    city    of    Saint    Louis,    but    they    seemed 


376 


CAPTAINS  OF  ADVENTURE 


ftranccrt  now,  and  hit  heart  began  to  cry  for 
the  wild  life.  Then  news  came  that  hit  Crows 
were  slaying  white  men,  and  in  haste  he  rode  to 
the  rescue,  to  find  his  warriors  besieging  Fort  Cass. 
He  came  among  them,  their  head  chief,  Medicine 
Calf,  black  with  fury  at  their  misdeeds,  so  that  the 
council  sat  bewQdered,  wondering  how  to  sue  for  his 
forgiveness.  Into  that  council  came  Pine  Leaf. 
"Warriors,"  she  cried,  "I  make  sacrifice  for  ray 
people!"  She  told  them  of  her  brother's  death  and 
of  her  great  vengeance,  now  completed  in  that  she  had 
slain  a  hundred  meli  to  be  his  servants  in  the  other 
world.  So  she  laid  down  her  arms.  "  I  have  hurled 
my  last  lance;  I  am  a  warrior  no  more.  To-day 
Medicine  Calf  has  returned.  He  has  returned  angry 
at  the  follies  of  his  people,  and  they  fear  that  he  will 
again  leave  them.  They  believe  that  he  loves  me, 
and  that  my  devotion  to  him  will  attach  him  to  the 
nation.  I,  therefore,  bestow  myself  upon  him ;  per- 
haps he  will  be  contented  with  me  and  will  leave  us 
no  more.    Warriors,  farewell  I" 

So  Jim  Beckwourth,  who  was  Medicine  Calf,  head 
chief  of  the  Crow  nation,  was  wedded  to  Pine  Leaf, 
their  great  heroine. 

Alas  for  Jim's  morab,  they  did  not  live  happily  ever 
after,  for  the  scalawag  deserted  all  his  wives,  titles 
and  honors,  to  become  a  mean  trader,  selling  that  fire- 
water which  sapped  the  manhood  of  the  warrior 
tribes,  and  left  them  naked  in  the  bitter  days  to  come. 
Pine  Leaf  and  her  kindred  are  gone  away  into  the 
shadows,  and  over  their  wide  lands  spread  green 
fields,  now  glittering  cities  of  the  great  republic. 

THB   END 


